Before the automotive industry's peak "Golden September, Silver October" season arrives, NIO Inc. and LEAPMOTOR have already been struck by overwhelming success, welcoming the happy troubles of balancing orders with production capacity.

Within a month, the LEAPMOTOR L90 and NIO's new ES8 - two large three-row pure electric SUVs launched by Li Bin - have seen their popularity soar. The former successfully achieved over 10,000 deliveries in its first month on the market. The arrival of this hit model is also spreading brand heat outward. "The L90's boost to L60 sales is very obvious. This month, L60 orders also hit a new high," LEAPMOTOR President Shen Fei revealed to Wall Street Insights.

Shen Fei remarked confidently, "Based on our product strength and continuously improving organizational capabilities, our current sales level hasn't reached the height it should achieve."

It can be said that the LEAPMOTOR brand is welcoming major changes and turning points alongside NIO Inc. It's almost certain that the L90 and all-new ES8 have successfully brought LEAPMOTOR and NIO back into the spotlight, making them dazzling protagonists once again.

Moving forward, the L90's continued deliveries and ES8's official launch will carry the expectations of many observers. Having previously suffered from production capacity shortages with hit models, how NIO and LEAPMOTOR avoid repeating past mistakes and maintain sustained success relates to NIO's commitment to achieving profitability in Q4 this year.

First, regarding LEAPMOTOR's delivery rhythm, internal consensus has formed to focus on the L90 in the short term. Qin Lihong revealed that since models within the same brand share many components, the L60 will relatively yield production capacity to the L90 for the foreseeable future. Additionally, the L80, originally scheduled to launch this year, will be delayed.

Qin Lihong stated that the LEAPMOTOR L90 is the brand's short-term focus, with other models taking a back seat. Q3 this year marks NIO's turning point, as "NIO has now entered a phase of gathering momentum and rising again, having weathered the storm cycle."

He noted that L90's hot sales exceeded company expectations, with total production capacity under pressure in August and September, with relative relief expected in October. Shen Fei mentioned that production capacity will climb a small step in October, with further improvements in November and December, with the next significant boost coming around Chinese New Year. By then, LEAPMOTOR's challenge will no longer be production capacity, but whether it can secure more orders.

"Production capacity is a minor issue; demand is always the biggest challenge," Qin Lihong stated. Both he and Shen Fei remain calm about L90's hot sales. "It's too early to conclude it's a hot seller. Whether L90 can sustain hot sales will be judged by October's sales figures. Today's orders are already scheduled through October."

Facing surging orders and soaring stock prices in this favorable situation, Qin Lihong remained soberly realistic, saying "it's far from time to pop the champagne."

Indeed, NIO, after years of struggle, has just returned to an upward trajectory, but external competition is fiercer than ever. Therefore, this year will be a crucial window for observing whether NIO can completely emerge from its difficulties and rebound strongly. Li Bin and his team must go all out for implementation and execution.

The following is a dialogue transcript with NIO President Qin Lihong and LEAPMOTOR President Shen Fei:

Q: What's the user profile for LEAPMOTOR L90?

Shen Fei: L90 users are very typical family users with genuine needs for large three-row vehicles. Some are L60 users upgrading, others switching from competitors' fuel vehicles, pure electric vehicles, or range-extended vehicles. They range from those upgrading from cars worth over 100,000 yuan to families already owning expensive, high-end vehicles.

L90 truly solves family needs for large three-row vehicles, satisfying elderly and children alike - it's the best car for large families.

Q: From L90's launch to NIO ES8's pre-sale, internal confidence has been high. Are there cases of L90 users discovering ES8 is better and wanting to switch orders?

Shen Fei: The all-new ES8's arrival definitely impacts LEAPMOTOR L90, but positively - it will only make L90 more popular and sell more. I believe L90 and the all-new ES8, spanning from around 200,000 to 500,000-600,000 yuan, mutually influence and promote each other, making both the best choices for large family vehicles.

Qin Lihong: I think the ES8 and L90 combination has established the pure electric route in large three-row SUVs. The main user source remains people with relevant seating and cargo needs, and the trend of switching from other energy sources to pure electric is very evident.

Q: L90 delivered 10,000 units in its first month. How long can steady-state deliveries maintain over 10,000 units? How do you view LEAPMOTOR's family brand label?

Qin Lihong: Markets constantly evolve; stating numbers today is meaningless. We believe for a considerable period, L90 has relatively absolute dominance in product strength and cost-effectiveness in its segment. Next, it depends on our execution.

From a brand perspective, many friends say don't limit L60 to families - we also have NIO and FIREFLY. Glowing free young individuals and multi-scenario business and family use - FIREFLY and NIO each have their missions. Family needs are very universal and eternal. Families come in many forms. LEAPMOTOR's long-term binding with happy families is this brand's success - no one can live apart from family. However, choosing family positioning places many demands on a brand. For L90 as a large family vehicle, it must first achieve consensus within large families.

You can imagine if one person in a family wants to buy a FIREFLY, they can tell family "I like it," but L90 requires consensus from several generations - if one person disagrees, the purchase fails. Requirements are very high - it must be versatile, practical, serve all family purposes, and have appropriate emotional value. It can't lack this, and the price must be reasonable. For a family-positioned brand to succeed tests a company's automotive capabilities. LEAPMOTOR has been launched for over a year, with some twists along the way, but overall we've been quite determined in this direction.

Shen Fei: Production capacity increases aren't that fast. August and September delivery volumes show October won't see complete relief. L60 production capacity has also increased. October capacity will climb a small step, November and December another step, with the next step around Chinese New Year.

Q: What's the underlying logic behind capital markets' optimism about NIO and LEAPMOTOR?

Qin Lihong: Consider NIO's Q1 report, soon-to-be-released Q2 report, and July-August sales together. NIO Inc. has entered a phase of gathering momentum and rising again, having crossed the storm cycle. The underlying logic for optimism is seeing a company that persists in long-termism, investing in R&D for ten years consistently, especially basic R&D, sticking to the pure electric path, deeply excavating one route, persisting in infrastructure investment, and building its own business model.

This series of colorful but expensive investments is beginning to bear fruit and harvest, perhaps just the beginning of a series of gains. This also proves from one angle that NIO's decade of persistence was reasonable. For the outside world, this objectively affirms our strategic route; for us, it's far from champagne time - after enduring so long, we finally see a glimmer of light. We must persist forward and realize many of our perseverance efforts were correct.

Through LEAPMOTOR's story, people can see a team with self-reflection, self-denial, and growth capabilities, though we remain a startup company.

Q: ES8 and L90 are both large three-row SUVs. What market share do you expect or hope these two models will capture?

Shen Fei: Having joined LEAPMOTOR only five months ago, it's difficult to say what heights L60 and L90 will reach together. I clearly know that based on these two models' product strength and our team's continuously improving organizational capabilities, current levels haven't reached their proper heights. Let's first work hard to improve what we can do now.

Indeed, after L90's arrival, whether through direct traffic generation or expanded reach, the boost to L60 is very obvious. This month, L60 orders also hit new highs - this is what NIO Group should look like.

Qin Lihong: For LEAPMOTOR, we'll prioritize L90. Frankly, L60 will relatively yield production capacity to L90 this month and for some time ahead. L60's delivery volume may not represent actual order levels. In L90's initial launch period, we'll maintain monthly sales over 10,000 for some time.

L80 won't begin deliveries this year. We must focus on doing a few important things well. Many friends tell us NIO should learn subtraction - we're making L90 LEAPMOTOR's top short-term priority.

Q: Consumers are increasingly discerning, yet NIO's pricing system has become very affordable. How did you achieve this?

Qin Lihong: NIO Inc. must learn to be good to everyone while keeping accounts balanced. Don't underestimate R&D's help in cost reduction. Most cost reductions for technical industrial products come from technological maturity plus volume increases - that's the main factor.

L90's single-motor power is strong because it uses ET9's motor. If L90 had to develop its own motor like ET9, costs would be much higher. ET9, L90, and ES8 all share the same rear motor, providing equally strong power for different vehicles while sharing costs.

Our self-developed Shenji NX9031 chip can match the computing power of four previous industry flagship chips, saving over 10,000 yuan per vehicle. Including VAT and margins, this translates to 20,000 yuan in retail price savings.

NIO established an in-house seat R&D team four years ago. Many people questioned why we needed to self-develop seats when we could outsource. Without seat self-development, we wouldn't have today's "every seat is VIP" comfort experience. LEAPMOTOR seats have essentially no difference in physical comfort from NIO's. LEAPMOTOR created a more spacious front trunk, while ES8 features a more comprehensive walk-in closet. Everyone has different needs. The cost impact from underlying R&D progress and shared development is enormous.

In recent years, including the factory repurchase and cooperation with JAC, NIO now operates four factories simultaneously. August will definitely exceed 30,000 monthly deliveries. With increased volume, manufacturing costs per vehicle save several thousand yuan. Additionally, our company's management improvements over the past year and increased efficiency play a role. Ultimately, if teachers are interested in the market...

Q: Will Shenji chips and Tianying constellation hardware architecture be considered for deployment to LEAPMOTOR to enhance product competitiveness?

Qin Lihong: Shenji chips only entered mass production this year starting with ET9 deliveries, with limited initial capacity. We prioritize NIO first, then LEAPMOTOR. LEAPMOTOR models will gradually be planned to use our own Shenji chips, but this year's pioneering work is still left to NIO.

Currently, LEAPMOTOR follows a pure vision route. The two brands need differentiation - they can't be identical. Regarding L90 and ES8 mentioned earlier, people overlook the 100,000+ yuan price difference. For NIO users, we need to explain what the extra 100,000+ yuan provides; for LEAPMOTOR users, we need to explain why the vehicle remains excellent despite the price difference. This tests us considerably and is factual.

Q: Why doesn't NIO have short-term MPV plans?

Qin Lihong: Users only pay for experiences. When users say they need MPVs, what are they really saying? This is the key question. They're talking about space - headroom, legroom, balanced three-row space. L90 and ES8 already achieve this, even better.

They might also mean luggage space when fully seated - I think L90 and ES8 do this better than MPVs. They mention entry/exit convenience, step height, third-row access convenience, aisle width, floor flatness. We've deconstructed user needs to the most basic, original requirements. L90 and ES8 already perfectly substitute some MPV user needs.

As vehicle categories, SUVs outperform MPVs in high-speed handling, safety, power, and wind resistance - MPVs are more capable vehicles. There's also a minor issue: overly luxurious MPVs can cause drivers to be mistaken for non-family members. For family-positioned MPVs, ensuring drivers and passengers are unquestionably recognized as family members requires families to be together. Considering all aspects, we try to use large three-row SUVs to satisfy some functional needs MPVs provide. Of course, some needs can't be met - the MPV market will continue long-term.

For several years, MPVs have maintained around 4% penetration in China's passenger car market - neither increasing nor decreasing. SUVs have continued growing, becoming the largest passenger car category since last year. As a company, we naturally consider these factors when planning products. Some users have strong MPV desires with reasonable needs, but NIO Inc. today cannot satisfy everything.

Q: How can LEAPMOTOR maintain its current good momentum?

Qin Lihong: As a young company, the most important thing is learning to handle pressure and grow. We never expected the world to be so beautiful - we'll face new setbacks, but I don't want us to stumble twice in the same place.

Past disappointments mainly stemmed from us seemingly falling in the same place more than once - like new product capacity ramp-up issues. ET5 had objective reasons, launching during China's most difficult COVID period with factory operations struggling, workers camping in factories, and component shortages. Last year's L60 situation awakened us - did ET5's objective circumstances make us abandon real reflection? Sometimes objective misfortunes might obscure subjective improvements we could make.

Our upcoming consecutive ES8+L90 large three-row SUVs are more complex to produce with more components. Give each product 100 days and observe whether capacity ramp-up, delivery, and execution have improved. Today's words don't matter - after 100 days, everyone will naturally sense the difference.

I think L90's sustained hot sales should be judged by October's full-month sales. Today's orders extend through October. Good August and September performance doesn't prove anything - what matters is October onward. ES8's success mainly depends on December sales.

We'll also give ourselves more objective, higher-standard, calmer observation windows. We regularly encourage our team and partners - celebration banquets should happen when appropriate, but we know the competition is reaching a critical stage. We can't determine victory or even provide evaluations yet.