The Nio logo at the company’s booth at the Beijing Auto Show in April 2026. Credit: CnEVPost
- Several online accounts posted fake promotional information and illegally harvested consumers’ personal information.
- Nio has also won effective court rulings in multiple defamation lawsuits, with defendants including several well-known auto bloggers.
Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) said multiple suspects accused of illegally harvesting consumers’ personal information through fake promotional offers have been placed under criminal coercive measures by Chinese police.
The Chinese EV maker’s legal department announced the progress it has made in combating online infringement and protecting its legitimate rights in a statement on Friday.
Several online accounts had long been posting fake promotional information involving Nio’s brands on the social media platform Xiaohongshu, using fabricated scripts to lure consumers into leaving their contact details and illegally harvesting their personal information, according to the statement.
Nio has formally reported these illegal activities, which seriously infringe on users’ rights, to the public security authorities.
Police have launched an investigation, and multiple suspects have been placed under criminal coercive measures or given administrative penalties, depending on the severity of their conduct.
Nio reminded consumers that it adopts a direct sales model in China and has not authorized any third party to sell its vehicles.
Consumers should not trust car purchase offers from unofficial channels, so as to guard against personal information leaks and financial losses, Nio stressed.
Meanwhile, Nio has also won effective rulings in multiple online defamation cases and disclosed the progress of several typical cases.
In the defamation case involving Dong Bin, holder of the online account “BelieveDB,” the court has issued an effective second-instance ruling, according to Nio.
The court found that Dong had frequently posted infringing remarks targeting Nio, its products, and its executives on online platforms since 2023, and continued to do so after the first-instance ruling, further amplifying the negative impact.
The second-instance ruling extended the period during which Dong must publicly apologize and increased the amount of civil compensation to strengthen the punishment for the infringement, Nio said.
Zhang Chong, holder of the online account “灯叔有车讲” (literally means uncle Deng talks about cars) had long fabricated false information and used insulting language to deliberately smear the Nio brand and distort the company’s actual operating conditions in pursuit of traffic, according to the statement.
The court found that Zhang infringed on Nio’s reputation and ordered him to immediately cease the infringement, publicly apologize, and pay damages. Zhang has fully complied with the effective ruling, completing the compensation payment and public apology.
In addition, Yu Zhibin, holder of the online account “大D有态度” (literally means big D has attitude) was found by a first-instance court to have fabricated false information about Nio, with his remarks constituting infringement. He was ordered to cease the infringement, publicly apologize, and pay damages.
Nio sued multiple bloggers, including the holder of that account, in July 2025, ahead of the launch of its sub-brand Onvo’s L90 SUV.
The holder of the online account “金角财经” (literally means golden horn finance) was found by a first-instance court to have committed infringement by fabricating content inconsistent with Nio’s actual operating data and financial situation, and was ordered to cease the infringement, publicly apologize, and pay damages.
Nio has been actively cracking down on online abuse and smear campaigns targeting its brand. In February 2025, the company offered rewards of up to 1 million yuan ($147,000) for tips on malicious online attacks.
Other automakers are taking similar actions in China’s extremely competitive EV market.
BYD (HKEX: 1211) won a second-instance ruling in May 2026 in a lawsuit against a well-known auto blogger, who was ordered to pay 2 million yuan in damages for long-term fabrication of false information about BYD’s core component systems.
Nio warned that untested counterfeit devices could detach and shatter during collisions, becoming dangerous “in-car bullets.”
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