At NIO Inc.'s new ES8 media briefing on August 22, company founder Li Bin candidly acknowledged that "regarding the 60 billion yuan in R&D investment, I cannot claim every penny was spent efficiently. Sometimes when evaluating whether a project is worth pursuing and whether it can achieve expected results, we may not have clarity at the project initiation stage. The same applies to vehicles - whether a model can reach its projected sales targets can only be determined after it goes to market."

Li Bin explained that the 60 billion yuan R&D investment was allocated across several key areas. First, fundamental underlying technologies. "I believe this benefits not only NIO Inc. but the entire industry. Even our talent development has significant impact across the sector," he stated.

Second, core components that directly translate into product capabilities, including chips, electric drive systems, battery packs, seats, and other platform technologies.

Third, vehicle model development, encompassing specific applications and software features such as NOMI applications and autonomous driving assistance systems.

From a CEO perspective, Li Bin emphasized the importance of setting return targets and evaluating payback periods based on different R&D categories. "We shouldn't discuss long-term returns when we should focus on short-term ones, and vice versa. Regardless of evaluation methods, ultimately we must assess ROI (return on investment) in financial terms. Every project now requires final accounting - if it's a two-year timeline, we'll settle accounts after two years."

Since the second half of last year, NIO Inc. has implemented ROI closed-loop management for every project, enabling identification of initiatives that genuinely create user value and generate company revenue. Li Bin stated bluntly, "This can actually be calculated clearly if you want to. If someone doesn't want to calculate clearly, they're definitely muddying the waters."

"We will not reduce our R&D return objectives or scope. Instead, we focus on improving efficiency - achieving better product development and technological outcomes with less economic investment," he concluded.