NIO Reports Over ¥10,000 Rise in Per-Vehicle Costs; CATL Raises $7B; Qijing GT7 Partnership Dispute Resolved

On May 28, NIO CEO William Li stated during a media briefing that rising prices of raw materials—including nickel, cobalt, and lithium carbonate—as well as memory chips have increased the per-vehicle manufacturing cost by approximately RMB 10,000 this year. He noted that due to the automotive industry’s limited pricing power, these added costs cannot be easily passed on to consumers in the short term and must be absorbed internally by automakers. Previously, Li had mentioned that batteries and chips account for over 50% of total vehicle costs, and standardizing batteries and unifying chip platforms could unlock cost-saving opportunities worth hundreds of billions of RMB. On the same day, Qijing—a premium automotive brand co-developed by GAC Group and Huawei—issued a statement regarding controversy surrounding the “taste ambassador” for its GT7 model. The brand clarified that the individual involved was solely a product evaluator, not an official brand ambassador, and confirmed that all related promotional content had been halted. Qijing also announced it would soon launch an open recruitment process for user-based evaluators. Separately, the individual at the center of the controversy, Su Mang, announced through her law firm on May 28 that she had initiated legal proceedings to protect her reputation. The collaboration lasted only 11 days—from official announcement to termination. Also on May 28, Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna revealed that despite design-related controversies, the company’s first all-electric model, the Luce—priced at €550,000—has already received orders from both new and existing customers. Following the car’s unveiling, Ferrari’s share price initially dropped by more than 8%, but rebounded by 3.3% on May 28. On May 27, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) disclosed plans to issue RMB 5 billion in green sci-tech innovation bonds with a “3+2” year maturity structure. Proceeds will fund operations of lithium-ion battery production projects and supply chain payments. This marks the third tranche under CATL’s approved RMB 40 billion issuance quota. By the end of 2025, the company plans to invest a total of RMB 149 billion across five major ongoing projects, of which RMB 50.271 billion has already been committed. Recently, XPeng Motors was selected as one of the inaugural projects under Guangdong Province’s Strategic Emerging Industries Investment Guidance Fund. With a total size of RMB 100 billion and an initial phase of RMB 50 billion, this is Guangdong’s first perpetual provincial government investment fund, focused on supporting hard-tech sectors. At the fund’s launch event, XPeng Chairman He Xiaopeng emphasized four strategic priorities: long-cycle investment, high-intensity R&D-driven innovation, supply chain security, and global expansion.