The electric vehicle company NIO was about to crash, but many think Beijing, intent on dominating the industry, grabbed the wheel.
Illustration by Daniel Hertzberg
Last December, the electric vehicle company NIO hosted its annual celebration for customers in Shenzhen, one of China’s entrepreneurial hotbeds. The event, called “NIO Day,” mixes an Apple-style keynote address with the lighting and theatrics of a stadium concert. Among the evening’s highlights was a musical skit by the Blue Sky Chorus, a troupe of volunteer performers who are all NIO customers.
In original lyrics they composed, the group catalogued their heartaches through the company’s tumultuous journey — “old classmates snickered, the whole neighborhood gossiped” — then broke into a rap sequence where they fired back. The second verse described the joys of driving a NIO car and their commitment to the company’s success.
They sang: “The NIO life is worth loving with all your spirit. If I can choose again, I would still choose NIO.”
Sitting in the front row, watching intently, was William Li, the 45-year-old founder and chief executive of NIO. In comp
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