Credit: Nio
- Nio opened city bidding for Nio Day 2026, with the final host city to be decided by user vote.
- The required bidding window suggests the event may return to a year-end slot, rather than continuing last year’s autumn format.
Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) has launched the bidding process for the host city of Nio Day 2026, restoring the tradition of letting its user community vote to decide the host city.
The company announced on Friday that it has officially opened city bidding for Nio Day 2026. This marks a new phase in the preparations for its most important annual event.
According to the bidding guidelines, candidate cities must provide a continuous 10-day available window between December 1 and December 31, 2026.
This window requirement indicates that Nio Day 2026 will return to a year-end slot, rather than continuing last year’s fall format.
The bidding will be led by city car owner clubs. If a city has multiple clubs, they will submit a joint bid.
The organizing committee will accept only one application per city. This arrangement aims to avoid duplication and improve bidding efficiency.
This is the sixth year that Nio has determined the Nio Day host location through a bidding process. The mechanism has continued for years since 2020.
Last year, however, was an exception. Nio selected Hangzhou in Zhejiang province directly in 2025, without a user vote.
Nio Day 2025 was held in Hangzhou on September 20 last year, also the first time the event was moved from its usual year-end slot to autumn.
That adjustment was partly driven by cost-control considerations, while also seeking to leverage the peak sales season in the fourth quarter.
This year, Nio has handed the choice back to its user community, marking a return to its tradition of user co-creation.
Candidate cities must also meet several other conditions, covering venue, area and hosting history.
A candidate city must not have hosted Nio Day in the past eight years, and the effective outdoor area for the charity market must be no less than 25,000 square meters.
In terms of the venue, it must be equipped with facilities meeting the hardware requirements for large-scale performances, with indoor venues preferred. After the stage and screens are set up, the venue must seat no fewer than 8,000 people.
On timing, city car owner clubs may submit their bidding intentions between June 26 and June 27. Application materials are advised to include basic information about the city and the venue.
The Nio Day organizing committee will conduct a preliminary venue inspection on June 28. Bidding materials must then be submitted by July 3.
On July 4, the committee will carry out a comprehensive review of the bidding materials from across the country and nominate three candidate cities. These three cities will advance to the next round of user voting.
The review dimensions include venue conditions, city introduction, the organizational capability of the car owner club, and user co-creation plans.
The three candidate cities will be showcased from July 14 to July 17 through channels such as the Nio App and Nio Radio.
The final result will be decided by user vote. Each user can vote between July 17 and July 18 using Nio Points (蔚来值).
Nio Day is Nio’s most important annual event. Since it was first held in 2017, every edition has been accompanied by major product and technology launches.
Last year’s event served as the official launch stage for the third-generation ES8 SUV (sport utility vehicle), a model that has now become key to Nio’s turnaround in performance.
The third-generation ES8 starts at 406,800 yuan ($59,840), and the high-margin model is driving the company’s financial improvement.
The milestone means that Nio has delivered 6,892 ES9s so far this month, considering that 3,108 units of the SUV were delivered last month.
($1 = 6.7982 yuan)
