- The legal action comes as the company reports its second consecutive quarter of profitability and prepares to launch its flagship SUV, the ES9.
- Nio said it has secured evidence of infringement and the police have accepted the case.
(Nio logo. Image credit: CnEVPost)
Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) has filed a report with the police, alleging a recent surge in online rumor-mongering and smear campaigns targeting the company.
The Chinese EV maker said in a statement on Friday that it has secured evidence of the infringement.
The company said the police have accepted the case, and it will resolutely take legal action to hold the infringers accountable.
Nio’s legal department said the recent malicious attacks primarily targeted its sub-brand Onvo and its battery swap station network.
Some online accounts fabricated false information that an actor in a promotional video for Onvo was the lead actor from a recent movie that received a lot of negative reviews.
Although Nio has debunked the rumors through multiple channels, several online accounts, including one named “彼得堡的肥天鹅” (Peterburg’s Fat Swan), continued to spread the related rumors, according to the company.
Nio claimed these accounts intended to continue inciting public opinion and launch malicious attacks against Nio and the actor involved.
In addition, an online account named “鳌头财经” (Aotou Caijing) published articles related to Nio across multiple platforms, citing incorrect sales data and maliciously fabricating the number of battery swap station failures.
These articles attacked Nio’s battery swap network and its multi-brand business model, causing severe damage to the company, Nio said.
The legal action comes as the company achieves a second consecutive quarter of profitability and intensively rolls out new products.
Nio achieved an adjusted operating profit of 66.8 million yuan ($9.7 million) in the first quarter, marking its second consecutive quarter of profitability, according to its earnings report released yesterday.
The company recently launched the Onvo L80 five-seat SUV, which has a starting price of 242,800 yuan including the battery pack.
Nio’s main brand executive flagship SUV, the Nio ES9, will also officially launch on May 27 and is currently open for test drives.
At the 2026 Shenzhen Auto Show later this month, Onvo will also begin pre-sales for the updated L60 SUV.
Nio has previously been actively combating cyberbullying and smear campaigns against its brand. Last year, the company offered rewards of up to 1 million yuan to publicly solicit clues about malicious online attacks.
In China’s hyper-competitive EV market, other automakers are taking similar actions.
Earlier this week, BYD (HKEX: 1211) won a second-instance ruling in a lawsuit against a well-known auto blogger.
The blogger was ordered to pay BYD 2 million yuan in damages for continuously fabricating false information about BYD’s core component systems.
In the first quarter, the average selling price for the Nio brand exceeded 390,000 yuan, which is 50,000 yuan higher than BMW’s.
