Nio expands to Europe and plans to deliver cars in Norway in September

Chinese electric car start-up Nio announced plans to start deliveries in Norway in September, marking its first foray outside of its home market.

The electric carmaker's chose Norway because more than half of new cars sold in the country in 2020 were battery-powered electric vehicles, according to the Norwegian Road Federation.

Electric vehicles accounted for 54.3% of the market last year, a rapid rise from 42% in 2019. The leading brands in Norway in 2020 were Volkswagen, Tesla and Nissan.

Nio's Norway venture will kick-off with a flagship “Nio House” store in Oslo set to open in the third quarter.

The plans also included the launch of its ES8 SUV in 2021, followed by the ET7 sedan model in 2022. The firm would also grow its local headcount from 15 people to 50 by the end of the current year.

Chinese rivals, such as Xpeng, had already entered the same market, delivering 100 units to Norway in December.