On September 28, NIO-SW (HKG: 09866) announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that GEELY AUTO (HKG: 00175) will invest approximately 4.8 billion yuan in NIO Power Investment (Hubei) Co., Ltd. through a combination of assets and cash. Upon completion of the transaction, Geely will hold a 30% stake, valuing NIO Power at approximately 16 billion yuan post-investment. This marks the largest industrial capital partnership in China's battery-swapping sector to date. Following the announcement, NIO-SW (HKG: 09866) shares rose more than 3% in early Hong Kong trading. What the capital market sees is not merely an investment, but a transformation in the landscape of China's energy replenishment industry.

Ahead of the holiday, heavyweight news emerged frequently in China's automotive industry. First, NIO-SW (HKG: 09866) and GEELY AUTO (HKG: 00175) signed a transaction agreement to cooperate in the charging and battery-swapping sector. Second, FAW and GAC signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement, potentially reshaping the north-south Toyota structure. Additionally, the AD collaboration between Avatr and Deepal is about to materialize. On the other hand, some automakers intend to shorten their front lines and reduce losses, with XPeng planning to consolidate four product lines into two. What we can sense is that the era of "vehicle proliferation" and "homogenization" seems to be passing, as companies accelerate resource integration and sharing. The strategic realignment at the organizational level of automakers also means that products with conflicting positioning or poor sales may be optimized. Perhaps many automakers have quietly cut back on models under development, reducing their distribution and focusing more energy on a few hit products.

What 4.8 billion yuan buys

Geely's contribution is divided into two parts: first, 100% equity in its operational battery-swapping platform Yiyi Interconnect, and second, 640 million yuan in cash. Together, these two parts are used to subscribe to newly issued shares of NIO Power. Based on the 4.8 billion yuan consideration and 30% equity, Yiyi Interconnect is valued at approximately 4.16 billion yuan, and NIO Power's pre-investment valuation is approximately 11.2 billion yuan. After the transaction, NIO China will hold 63.6% and remain the controlling shareholder; Geely Holding's subsidiary will hold 30% and become the second-largest shareholder; the original investor Wuhan Guangchuang Fund will hold the remaining 6.4%.

A deal that allows both offense and defense

NIO founder, chairman, and CEO William Li stated: "Over the past decade, continuous innovation and breakthroughs have driven China's smart electric vehicles to achieve leapfrog development. Today, China's auto industry must not only continue to enhance innovation capability but also improve innovation efficiency. This cooperation, through deep synergy at the technology, standards, operations, asset, and capital levels, connects the resources and capabilities both sides have accumulated over the long term in the charging and battery-swapping sector. It is an important exploration and innovative attempt by Chinese automakers to break through involution, build an open, cooperative, and mutually beneficial industrial ecosystem, and pursue high-quality development together. The cooperation between NIO and Geely in the charging and battery-swapping sector is an open platform for the industry. We welcome and look forward to more peers joining us to provide users with a better charging experience, jointly promote the low-carbon green energy transition, and create a sustainable and better future together."

This agreement is cleverly designed. The equity Geely receives is not fixed but dynamic. If NIO Power's operations fail to meet targets, Geely's stake can drop to as low as 20%, providing downside protection. If development goes well, Geely can invest an additional 640 million yuan in cash within two years, raising its stake to as high as 34%, an upside option. The final stake depends on performance. NIO's bottom line is also clear: regardless of how Geely exercises its options, NIO China's stake will not fall below 60%, keeping the steering wheel firmly in its own hands.

Reverse operation: NIO sells assets along the way

While Geely invests, there is also a reverse transaction: NIO China will subscribe to a 10% stake in Geely's charging company Haohan Energy with cash, and this money will be used to acquire certain charging assets from NIO. Do you see the loop? NIO sells part of its self-built charging assets to Haohan Energy, recovers cash, moves heavy assets off its books, and in exchange receives a 10% stake in Haohan Energy and interconnection between both parties' charging networks. By the end of 2027, Geely plans to build more than 22,000 charging stations and over 100,000 charging guns, covering county-level cities nationwide first. These networks will be accessible to NIO owners in the future.

NIO's books: the foundation built with 20 billion yuan

Why bring in Geely? First, look at NIO Power's foundation. As of September 27, 2026, NIO has invested more than 20 billion yuan cumulatively in the charging and battery-swapping sector, building 4,126 battery-swap stations, 5,307 charging stations, 30,598 charging piles, and 1,062 highway battery-swap stations, connecting more than 550 cities nationwide, with cumulative battery-swap services exceeding 125 million times. Both the scale of battery-swap stations and charging piles rank first in the industry. A strong foundation also means heavy cash burn. NIO's first-generation battery-swap station costs about 2.5 million to 3 million yuan, and the second generation about 1.5 million yuan. William Li has calculated that a single station needs 60 swaps per day to break even, while in 2024 the entire network averaged only 35 to 36 swaps per day. In early 2025, daily orders at Shanghai battery-swap stations surged to about 9,000, approaching profitability, proving that sufficient density can generate profit. The question is, where does the money for density come from? The answer is socialization. In May 2024, Wuhan state capital invested 1.5 billion yuan; in March 2025, CATL advanced an investment of no more than 2.5 billion yuan; now Geely has entered with 4.8 billion yuan, each step larger than the last.

NIO itself is also becoming increasingly competitive. In the second quarter of 2026, revenue reached 32.14 billion yuan, up 69.1% year-on-year; net loss was 528 million yuan, narrowing 89.4% year-on-year; operating cash flow was positive for four consecutive quarters; net loss in the first half was 860 million yuan, narrowing by more than 90% compared with the same period last year; cash reserves rebounded to 56.7 billion yuan. Only a NIO capable of generating its own cash flow has the confidence to defend control at the negotiating table.

Geely's calculation: the energy replenishment anxiety of 1.1 million vehicles

An Conghui, CEO of Geely Holding Group, stated: "The high-quality development of the auto industry does not lie in merely pursuing expansion of production and sales scale, but in strengthening and supplementing the chain, improving quality and efficiency, ensuring safety and green development, and embracing openness and mutual benefit. The energy replenishment network is public infrastructure for society as a whole and should be jointly built, shared, and interconnected, with users as the biggest beneficiaries. Geely Holding Group has long been deeply engaged in core technology innovation in new energy three-electric systems and has built a full-scenario energy replenishment system driven by both charging and battery swapping. This cooperation is a practical measure by both sides to practice high-quality development of China's intelligent connected new energy vehicles. Geely Holding Group will, with an open attitude and long-term commitment, work with industry partners including NIO to weave this energy replenishment network more densely, more solidly, and more safely, making travel more reassuring and relaxed for users."

Why is Geely willing to pay 4.8 billion yuan? Look at sales and it becomes clear. In the first half of 2026, Geely Holding Group sold 1.935 million vehicles, a record high, including 1.101 million new energy vehicles, a penetration rate of 56.9%. Zeekr delivered 178,000 vehicles, up 97% year-on-year; Galaxy sold 520,000 vehicles; exports reached 474,000 vehicles, up 158% year-on-year. First-half revenue was 173.6 billion yuan, and core net profit attributable to the parent was 9.68 billion yuan, up 46% year-on-year. The more cars sold, the heavier the burden of energy replenishment. Building a nationwide battery-swap network from scratch, based on NIO's investment, would require at least 20 billion yuan and nearly a decade. Now, spending 4.8 billion yuan directly buys the ready-made network of 4,126 battery-swap stations, the operating system, and standard-setting influence. This calculation is worthwhile no matter how you look at it. Even better, Geely is merging its operational vehicle battery-swap platform Yiyi Interconnect entirely into NIO Power, handing high-frequency battery-swap businesses such as ride-hailing and taxis to professional operators while focusing on making cars. Both sides have made it clear: Geely's consumer-facing models and mobility service vehicles will connect to NIO's battery-swap network in the future, and Zeekr, Lynk & Co, and Galaxy are all expected to launch battery-swap versions. Geely will become the first partner in the alliance to truly mass-produce battery-swap models.

From handshake to payment: the alliance gets serious for the first time

On November 29, 2023, Geely and NIO signed a strategic cooperation agreement on battery swapping, with Li Shufu and William Li personally attending. But nearly three years later, not a single Geely vehicle can swap batteries at a NIO battery-swap station. This is not an isolated case. NIO has signed battery-swap cooperation agreements with seven automakers: Changan, Chery, JAC, GAC, FAW, Lotus, and Geely, calling itself the industry's largest battery-swap alliance. But apart from NIO's own vehicles, not a single external automaker has yet produced a mass-produced battery-swap model. Signing is easy; paying real money is hard.

This time is different. The 4.8 billion yuan capital investment, combined with the floating equity design of 20% to 34%, tightly binds Geely and NIO Power's revenue, swap volume, and expansion depth together, sharing prosperity and adversity. NIO Power plans to build 10,000 battery-swap stations by 2030, with annual electricity demand exceeding 10 billion kilowatt-hours. This network is transforming from NIO's private asset into a public utility for the industry. Looking at the bigger picture: Leapmotor partners with Stellantis, XPeng allies with Volkswagen, and NIO welcomes Geely and CATL. The era of new forces fighting alone and burning money independently is over, and the era of open cost-sharing and strategic alliances has begun.

Battery swapping turns from a moat into infrastructure

The 16 billion yuan valuation is not buying the steel and concrete of thousands of stations. NIO Power follows an asset-light route, with a large number of station assets held by partners. What this 16 billion yuan truly prices are three things: battery-swap technology standards, battery asset management capability, and network scheduling systems. For NIO, heavy assets have become a platform that can be shared through equity, and battery swapping has turned from a cost center into an industry foundation. For Geely, 4.8 billion yuan buys an energy replenishment solution for a million new energy vehicles and a professional outlet for operational vehicle battery swapping. For the industry, the deep synergy between two leading companies across five dimensions, technology, standards, operations, assets, and capital, is the most concrete response to "anti-involution."

Of course, suspense remains: when consumer-facing battery-swap models will arrive, how bet milestones will be set, and when regulatory approval will pass. But the direction is already clear: when the largest battery-swap player and the largest private automaker are written into the same equity structure table, the game of China's battery swapping has truly begun.