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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

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FORM 20-F

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(Mark One)

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NIO Inc.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

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N/A

(Translation of Registrant’s Name Into English)

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Cayman Islands

(Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)

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Building 20, No. 56 AnTuo Road, Anting Town, Jiading District

Shanghai 201804, People’s Republic of China

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

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Wei Feng, Chief Financial Officer

Building 20, No. 56 AnTuo Road, Anting Town, Jiading District

Shanghai 201804, People’s Republic of China

Telephone: +8621-6908 2018

Email: ir@nio.com

(Name, Telephone, Email and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

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Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report:

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As of December 31, 2020,2022, there were (i) 1,292,312,2881,570,605,680 Class A ordinary shares outstanding, par value US$0.00025 per share, (ii) 128,293,932 Class B ordinary shares outstanding, par value US$0.00025 per share and (iii)(ii) 148,500,000 Class C ordinary shares outstanding, par value US$0.00025 per share.

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

⌧☒ Yes ◻☐ No

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If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. ◻☐ Yes ⌧☒ No

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. ⌧☒ Yes ◻☐ No

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). ⌧☒ Yes ◻☐ No

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ◻☐

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†The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. § 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

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If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

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Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

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Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

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If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. ◻☐ Item 17 ◻☐ Item 18

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If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).  ☐ Yes ☒ No

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(APPLICABLE ONLY TO ISSUERS INVOLVED IN BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS)

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed all documents and reports required to be filed by Sections 12, 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 subsequent to the distribution of securities under a plan confirmed by a court. ◻☐ Yes ◻☐ No

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INTRODUCTION

In this annual report on Form 20-F, or this annual report, except where the context otherwise requires and for purposes of this annual report only:

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Unless otherwise noted, all translations from Renminbi to U.S. dollars and from U.S. dollars to Renminbi in this annual report are made at a rate of RMB6.5250RMB6.8972 to US$1.00, the exchange rate in effect as of December 31, 202030, 2022 as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. We make no representation that any Renminbi or U.S. dollar amounts could have been, or could be, converted into U.S. dollars or Renminbi, as the case may be, at any particular rate, or at all. Unless otherwise specified, the description of our vehicles, services and business models in this report refers to our business in China.

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FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This annual report contains forward-looking statements that reflect our current expectations and views of future events. These forward lookingforward-looking statements are made under the “safe-harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those listed under “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors,” may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those listed under “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors,” that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

You can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “likely to,” “potential,” “continue” or other similar expressions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:

These forward-looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties. growth strategies, our future business development, financial condition and results of operations, our expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of our products and services, and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing.

Although we believe that our expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, our expectations may later be found to be incorrect. Our actual results could be materially different from our expectations. Other sections of this annual report include additional factors that could adversely impact our business and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. New risk factors and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for our management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. You should read thoroughly this annual report and the documents that we refer to with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from, or worse than, what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

This annual report contains certain data and information that we obtained from various government and private publications. Statistical data in these publications also include projections based on a number of assumptions. The electric vehicles industry may not grow at the rate projected by market data, or at all. Failure of this market to grow at the projected rate may have a material adverse effect on our business and the market price of our ADSs.ADSs or Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the rapidly evolving nature of the electric vehicles industry results in significant uncertainties for any projections or estimates relating to the growth prospects or future condition of our market. Furthermore, if any one or more of the assumptions underlying the market data are later found to be incorrect, actual results may differ from the projections based on these assumptions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements made in this annual report relate only to events or information as of the date on which the statements are made in this annual report. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. You should read this annual report and the documents that we refer to in this annual report and exhibits to this annual report completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

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PART I.

ITEM 1.       IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS

Not applicable.

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ITEM 2.       OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE

Not applicable.

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ITEM 3.       KEY INFORMATION

A.          Selected Financial DataOur Holding Company Structure and Contractual Arrangements with the VIEs

Selected Consolidated Financial Data

The following selectedNIO Inc. is not an operating company in China but a Cayman Islands holding company with no equity ownership in its consolidated statementsvariable interest entities, or VIEs. We conduct our operations in China (i) primarily through our PRC subsidiaries, and (ii) to a much lesser extent, through the VIEs, namely Beijing NIO, Anhui NIO AT, and Anhui NIO DT, with each of comprehensive loss data for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020, selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2019 and 2020 and selected consolidated cash flow data for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020which we maintain contractual arrangements. We have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report. The following selected consolidated statements of comprehensive loss data for the year ended December 31, 2016 and 2017, the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2016, 2017 and 2018, and the selected consolidated cash flow data for the year ended December 31, 2016 and 2017 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements that are not included in this annual report. Our historical results do not necessarily indicate results expected for any future periods. The selected consolidated financial data should be read in conjunction with, and are qualified in their entirety by reference to, our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes and “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” below. Our consolidated financial statements are prepared and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally acceptedalso established subsidiaries in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Norway and other overseas jurisdictions to promote our services and businesses, entering into business contracts with offshore counterparties and holding overseas intellectual properties.

PRC laws and regulations (i) restrict and impose conditions on foreign investment in value-added telecommunication services, including without limitation, performing internet information services as well as holding certain related licenses; and (ii) prohibit foreign investment in certain services related to autonomous driving as well as the holding of America,relevant licenses by foreign entities. Additionally, in practice, subject to the qualifications set by China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, or U.S. GAAP.

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Beijing NIO, Anhui NIO AT and Anhui NIO DT, taking into account all of their respective business with or without foreign investment restrictions and prohibitions under PRC laws, did not contribute to our total revenues in 2020, 2021 and 2022. The following table presentsVIEs provided services internally to our selected consolidated cash flow datasubsidiaries, and such services amounted to RMB0.2 million, RMB0.6 million and RMB89.2 million (US$12.9 million) for the years indicated.ended December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively. As of December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022, none of Beijing NIO, Anhui NIO AT and Anhui NIO DT had significant operations or any material assets or liabilities.

Holdings of our ADSs and Class A ordinary shares are not holding equity interests in the VIEs in China but instead are holding equity interests in a holding company incorporated in the Cayman Islands. We do not have any equity interests in the VIEs. However, as a result of contractual arrangements, we have a controlling financial interest over and are considered the primary beneficiary of each of the VIEs, and we have consolidated the financial results, pursuant to US GAAP, each of these entities in our consolidated financial statements. However, the contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over the VIEs and we may incur substantial costs to enforce the terms of the arrangements. If the VIEs or the nominee shareholders fail to perform their respective obligations under the contractual arrangements, we could be limited in our ability to enforce the contractual arrangements that give us effective control over the VIEs. Furthermore, if we are unable to maintain effective control, we would not be able to continue to consolidate the financial results of the VIEs in our financial statements. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure—We rely on contractual arrangements with the VIEs and their shareholders to hold a controlling financial interest as the primary beneficiary over each VIE and its related business, which may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing operational control” and “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure—The shareholders of the VIEs have conflicts of interest with us, which may materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition.”

There are also substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current and future PRC laws, regulations and rules regarding the status of the rights of our Cayman Islands holding company with respect to its contractual arrangements with the VIEs and their nominee shareholders. It is uncertain whether any new PRC laws or regulations relating to contractual arrangements will be adopted or if adopted, what they would provide. If we or any of the VIEs is found to be in violation of any existing or future PRC laws or regulations, or fail to obtain or maintain any of the required permits or approvals, the relevant PRC regulatory authorities would have broad discretion to take action in dealing with such violations or failures. Our Cayman Islands holding company, our PRC subsidiaries and VIEs, and investors of our company face uncertainty about potential future actions by the PRC government that could affect the enforceability of the contractual arrangements with the VIEs and, consequently, significantly affect the financial performance of the VIEs and our company as a whole. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure—If the PRC government deems that our contractual arrangements with the VIEs do not comply with PRC regulatory restrictions on foreign investment in the relevant industries, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations.”

PRC government’s significant authority in regulating our operations and its oversight and control over offerings conducted overseas by, and foreign investment in, China-based issuers could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors. Implementation of industry-wide regulations in this nature may cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or become worthless. For more details, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—The PRC government’s significant oversight and discretion over our business operation could result in a material adverse change in our operations and the value of our ADSs.”

Risks and uncertainties arising from the legal system in China, including risks and uncertainties regarding the enforcement of laws and quickly evolving rules and regulations in China, could result in a material adverse change in our operations and the value of our ADSs. For more details, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws and regulations could limit the legal protections available to you and us.”

Permissions Required from the PRC Authorities for Our Operations

Our operations in China are governed by PRC laws and regulations. As of the date of this annual report, our PRC subsidiaries and VIEs have obtained the requisite licenses and permits from the PRC government authorities that are material for the main business operations of our holding company, our PRC subsidiaries and the VIEs in China, including, among others, a license for conducting Internet content provision services, or the ICP license, and the insurance brokerage license. Given the uncertainties of interpretation and implementation of relevant laws and regulations and the enforcement practice by relevant government authorities, we may be required to obtain additional licenses, permits, filings or approvals for our business operations in the future. For more detailed information, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—We may be adversely affected by the complexity, uncertainties and changes in PRC regulations on internet-related business, automotive businesses and other business carried out by our PRC subsidiaries and VIEs.”

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Meanwhile, the PRC government has recently sought to exert more oversight and control over capital raising activities of listed companies that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China-based issuers. In December 2021, the Cyberspace Administration of China, or the CAC, together with other authorities, jointly promulgated the Cybersecurity Review Measures, which became effective on February 15, 2022 and replaces its predecessor regulation. Pursuant to the Cybersecurity Review Measures, critical information infrastructure operators that procure internet products and services and network platform operators that conduct data process activities must be subject to the cybersecurity review if their activities affect or may affect national security. On February 17, 2023, China Securities Regulatory Commission, or the CSRC, released several regulations regarding the filing requirements for overseas offerings and listings by domestic companies, including the Trial Administrative Measures of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies and five supporting guidelines (collectively, the “Overseas Listing Filing Rules”), which were formally implemented on March 31, 2023. According to the Overseas Listing Filing Rules, domestic enterprises like us that have completed overseas listings are not required to file with CSRC immediately, but shall carry out filing procedures as required if we conduct refinancing or fall within other circumstances that require filing with the CSRC. Any failure to obtain or delay in obtaining such approval or completing such procedures could subject us to restrictions and penalties imposed by the CSRC, the CAC or other PRC regulatory authorities, which could include fines and penalties on our operations in China, delays of or restrictions on the repatriation of the proceeds from our offshore offerings into China, or other actions that could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects, as well as the trading price of our ADSs. For more detailed information, see “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors — Risks Related to Doing Business in China — The approval of or the filing with the CSRC or other PRC government authorities may be required in connection with our future offshore listings and capital raising activities under PRC law, and, if required, we cannot predict whether or for how long we will be able to obtain such approval or filing.”

The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act

Pursuant to the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCAA, if the SEC determines that we have filed audit reports issued by a registered public accounting firm that has not been subject to inspections by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or the PCAOB, for two consecutive years, the SEC will prohibit our shares or ADSs from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over-the-counter trading market in the United States. On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a report to notify the SEC of its determination that the PCAOB was unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong, including our auditor. In May 2022, the SEC conclusively listed NIO Inc. as a Commission-Identified Issuer under the HFCAA following the filing of the annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB issued a report that vacated its December 16, 2021 determination and removed mainland China and Hong Kong from the list of jurisdictions where it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms. For this reason, we do not expect to be identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer under the HFCAA after we file this annual report on Form 20-F. Each year, the PCAOB will determine whether it can inspect and investigate completely audit firms in mainland China and Hong Kong, among other jurisdictions. If PCAOB determines in the future that it no longer has full access to inspect and investigate completely accounting firms in mainland China and Hong Kong and we continue to use an accounting firm headquartered in one of these jurisdictions to issue an audit report on our financial statements filed with the SEC, we would be identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer following the filing of the annual report on Form 20-F for the relevant fiscal year. There can be no assurance that we would not be identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer for any future fiscal year, and if we were so identified for two consecutive years, we would become subject to the prohibition on trading under the HFCAA. For more details, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—The PCAOB had historically been unable to inspect our auditor in relation to their audit work performed for our financial statements and the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of our auditor in the past has deprived our investors with the benefits of such inspections” and “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Our ADSs may be prohibited from trading in the United States under the HFCAA in the future if the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely auditors located in China. The delisting of the ADSs, or the threat of their being delisted, may materially and adversely affect the value of your investment.”

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Pursuant to the exclusive business cooperation agreements dated April 19, 2018 and April 12, 2021, respectively, between NIO Co., Ltd., or Shanghai NIO, a wholly-owned subsidiary of our company, and Beijing NIO, Shanghai NIO may adjust the payment time and payment method of the service fees, and Beijing NIO will accept any such adjustment. For the years ended December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022, no service under the contractual arrangements was provided by Shanghai NIO and no service fee was paid by Beijing NIO to Shanghai NIO accordingly. We intend to determine the amount of service fee and payment method based on the working capital needs of Shanghai NIO and Beijing NIO, and settle such service fees accordingly in the future. Pursuant to a separate service agreement, for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022, Shanghai NIO paid Beijing NIO RMB0.2 million, RMB0.6 million and RMB0.7 million (US$0.1 million) for services provided by Beijing NIO.

Pursuant to the exclusive business cooperation agreement dated November 30, 2022 between Anhui NIO Autonomous Driving Technology Co., Ltd., or Anhui NIO AD, a wholly-owned subsidiary of our company, and Anhui NIO AT, Anhui NIO AD may adjust the payment time and payment method of the service fees, and Anhui NIO AT will accept any such adjustment. For the year ended December 31, 2022, no service under the contractual arrangements was provided by Anhui NIO AD and no service fee was paid by Anhui NIO AT to Anhui NIO AD accordingly. We intend to determine the amount of service fee and payment method based on the working capital needs of Anhui NIO AD and Anhui NIO AT, and settle such service fees accordingly in the future. Pursuant to a separate service agreement, for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022, Anhui NIO AD paid Anhui NIO AT RMB nil, RMB nil and RMB70.1 million (US$10.2 million) for services provided by Anhui NIO AT.

Pursuant to the exclusive business cooperation agreement dated December 12, 2022 between NIO Holding Co., Ltd., or NIO China, a PRC subsidiary in which we hold 92.114% controlling equity interests, and Anhui NIO DT, NIO China may adjust the payment time and payment method of the service fees, and Anhui NIO DT will accept any such adjustment. For the year ended December 31, 2022, no service under the contractual arrangements was provided by NIO China and no service fee was paid by Anhui NIO DT to NIO China accordingly. We intend to determine the amount of service fee and payment method based on the working capital needs of NIO China and Anhui NIO DT, and settle such service fees accordingly in the future.

NIO Inc. has not declared or paid any cash dividends, nor does it have any present plan to pay any cash dividends on our ordinary shares in the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain most, if not all, of our available funds and any future earnings to operate and expand our business. See “Item 8. Financial Information — A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information — Dividend Policy.”  For Cayman Islands, PRC and United States federal income tax considerations of an investment in our ADSs or Class A ordinary shares, see “Item 10. Additional Information — E. Taxation.”

As of December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022 and for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022, none of Beijing NIO, Anhui NIO AT and Anhui NIO DT had significant operations or any material assets or liabilities. As a result, the financial information related to the consolidated VIEs were insignificant to our consolidated financial statements.

A.          [Reserved]

B.          Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

C.          Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

D.          Risk Factors

Summary of Risk Factors

An investment in our ADSs and Class A ordinary shares involves significant risks. Below is a summary of material risks we face, organized under relevant headings. These risks are discussed more fully in Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors.

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D.          Risk FactorsRisks Related to Our Business and Industry

Risks and uncertainties related to our business and industry include, but are not limited to, the following:

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Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

We are also subject to risks and uncertainties related to our corporate structure, including, but not limited to, the following:

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

We face risks and uncertainties related to doing business in China in general, including, but not limited to, the following:

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Risks Related to Our ADSs and Class A Ordinary Shares

In addition to the risks described above, we are subject to risks related to our ADSs and Class A ordinary shares:

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

Our ability to develop and manufacture a carvehicles of sufficient quality and appeal to customers on schedule and on a large scale is still evolving.

Our future business depends in large part on our ability to execute on our plans to develop, manufacture, market and sell our electric vehicles. We plan to manufacture our vehicles in higher volumes than our present production capabilities.

Our continued development and manufacturing of our vehicles, the ES8, the ES6, the EC6,current and the ET7, and our future vehiclesvehicle models are and will be subject to risks, including with respect to:

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We began making deliveriesCurrently, our product portfolio consists of the seven-seater ES8, in June 2018,a six-seater smart electric flagship SUV, the six-seater ES8 in March 2019ES7 (or the EL7), a mid-large five-seater smart electric SUV, the ES6, a five-seater all-round smart electric SUV, the EC7, a five-seater smart electric flagship coupe SUV, the EC6, a five-seater smart electric coupe SUV, the ET7, a smart electric flagship sedan, and the ES6 in June 2019. In December 2019, we launched our third volume manufactured electric vehicle, the EC6, and the all-new ES8 with more than 180 product improvements. We began making deliveries of the all- new ES8 in April 2020, and making deliveries of the EC6 in September 2020. In January 2021, we launched our fourth volume manufactured electric vehicle, the ET7, and we estimated to start delivery of our flagshipET5, a mid-size smart electric sedan NIO ET7 in the first quarter of 2022.sedan. Our vehicles may not meet customer expectations and our future models may not be commercially viable.

Historically, automobile customers have expected car manufacturersauto companies to periodically introduce new and improved vehicle models. In order to meet these expectations, we may be required to introduce new vehicle models and enhanced versions of existing vehicle models. To date, we have limited experience designing, testing, manufacturing, marketing and selling our electric vehicles and therefore cannot assure you that we will be able to meet customer expectations.

Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and growth prospects.

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Our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in temporary closure of many corporate offices, retail stores, manufacturing facilities and factories across China and the world. In early 2020,Our operations experienced disruptions, such as temporary closure of our offices and/or those of our customers or suppliers and suspension of services, resulting in response to intensifying efforts to contain the spreada reduction of COVID-19, the Chinese government took a number of actions,vehicles manufactured and delivered, which included, among others, extending the Chinese New Year holiday, quarantining and otherwise treating individuals in China who had contracted COVID-19, asking residents to remain at home and to avoid gathering in public. While such restrictive measures have been gradually lifted,affected our business, has beenfinancial condition, results of operations and could continue to be adverselycash flow. In particular, in late March and April 2022, our vehicle production was impacted by the effectssupply chain volatilities and other constraints caused by a new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although COVID-19 has been largely controlled in China, there have been occasional outbreaks in several cities. To the extent we have service centers and vehicle delivery centerscertain regions in these locations, we are susceptible to factors adversely affecting one or more of these locations as a result of COVID-19.China. Our results of operations have been and could continue to be adversely affected to the extent the COVID-19 pandemic or any other epidemic harms the Chinese economy in general. We have experienced andIn addition, the ongoing global pandemic may continue to experience impacts to certain of our customers and/or suppliers as a result ofadversely affect the COVID-19 pandemic occurringsupply chains, which in one or more of these locations, which haveturn may materially and adversely affectedaffect our business financial condition,and results of operations and cash flows. In addition, our operations have experienced andoperations. The global pandemic may continue to experience disruptions, such as temporary closurealso delay the execution of our offices and/or those of our customers or suppliers and suspension of services, resulting in a reduction of vehicles manufactured and in turn fewer vehicles delivered, which have and may continue to materially and adversely affected our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.overseas market expansion plan. Further, to the extent the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business and financial results, it has and may continue to have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this annual report, such as those relating to our level of indebtedness, our need to generate sufficient cash flows to service our indebtedness and our ability to comply with the covenants contained in the agreements that govern our indebtedness.

As a resultThere has been an easing of the travel restrictions and quarantine requirements related to COVID-19 normal economic life throughoutin China was sharply curtailed andsince December 2022. Shortly after that, there were disruptionssurges of cases in many cities during this time which caused impacts to normal operationcertain of businessesour customers and/or suppliers in various areas, including the manufacturinglocations where we have service centers and sales of vehicles in China. In addition, the ongoing global pandemic mayvehicle delivery centers, which have adversely affect the supply chains, which in turn may materially and adversely affectaffected our business, andfinancial condition, results of operations. The global pandemic, especially the situation in Europe, may also delay the execution of our overseas market expansion plan. Currently, the vaccines are not widely accessible to the public. Relaxation of restrictions on economicoperations and social life may lead to new cases which may lead to the re-imposition of restrictions. As a result, the duration of such business disruption and the resulting financial and operational impact on us cannot be reasonably estimated at this time.cash flows. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic may further impactimpacts our business and financial performanceresults of operations going forward will depend on future developments which are highly uncertain and largely beyond our control.unpredictable, including the frequency, duration and extent of outbreaks of COVID-19, the appearance of new variants with different characteristics, the success or failure of efforts to contain or treat cases, and future actions we or the authorities may take in response to these developments. Even if the economic impact of COVID-19 gradually recedes, the pandemic willcould have a lingering, long-term effect on business activities and consumption behavior. There is no assurance that we will be able to adjust our business operations to adapt to these changes and the increasingly complex environment in which we operate.

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If we fail to address any or all of these risks and challenges, our business may be materially and adversely affected.

We have limited experience to date in high volume manufacturing of our electric vehicles. We cannot assure you that we will be able to develop efficient, automated, cost-efficient manufacturing capability and processes, and reliable sources of component supply that will enable us to meet the quality, price, engineering, design and production standards, as well as the production volumes required to successfully mass market the ES8, the ES6, the EC6, the ET7,sell our current and future vehicles.vehicle models in a large scale.

Furthermore, our vehicles are highly technical products that will require maintenance and support. If we were to cease or cut back operations, even years from now, buyers of our vehicles from years earlier might encounter difficulties in maintaining their vehicles and obtaining satisfactory support. We also believe that our service offerings, including user confidence in our ability to provide our power solutions and honor our obligations under our service package, will be key factors in marketing our vehicles. As a result, consumers will be less likely to purchase our vehicles now if they are not convinced that our business will succeed or that our operations will continue for many years. Similarly, suppliers and other third parties will be less likely to invest time and resources in developing business relationships with us if they are not convinced that our business will succeed.

Table of the foregoing could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.Contents

The unavailability, reduction or elimination of government and economic incentives or government policies which are favorable for electric vehicles and domestically produced vehicles could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.

Our growth dependshas benefited significantly onfrom the availability and amounts of government subsidies, economic incentives and government policies that support the growth of new energy vehicles. Favorable government incentives and subsidies in China include one-time government subsidies, exemption from vehicle purchase tax, exemption from license plate restrictions in certain cities, preferential utility rates for charging facilities and more. Changes in government subsidies, economic incentives and government policies to support NEVs could adversely affect ourthe results of our operations.

China’s central government providesprovided subsidies for purchaserspurchases of certain NEVs until 2022 and reviews and further adjusts the subsidy standard on an annual basis. The 2019 subsidy standard, effective from March 26, 2019, reducedWe have seen a general decrease in the amount of nationalgovernment subsidies and canceled local subsidies, resultingavailable to purchase of NEVs in a significant reduction inrecent years. For example, the total subsidy amount applicable to the ES8 and ES6 as compared to 2018. The 2020 subsidy standard, effective from April 23, 2020, reduces the base subsidy amount in general by 10% for each NEV, and sets subsidies for 2around two million vehicles as the upper limit of annual subsidy scale;scale. The 2022 subsidy standard was further reduced by 30% compared to the standard of 2021. In addition, the subsidy policy for the purchase of NEVs in 2022 was terminated on December 31, 2022, and provides that national subsidy shall only applywill no longer be granted to an NEV with the sale price under RMB300,000 or compatible with battery swapping.vehicles where car licenses are issued after December 31, 2022. We believe that our sales performance of ES8, ES6in 2020, 2021 and EC6 in 2019 and 20202022 was negatively affected by the reduction in the subsidy standard to some extent. The current 2021 subsidy standard, effectivetermination of government subsidies starting from January 1, 2021, reduced by 20% as compared to the 2020 subsidy standard. Further, theend of 2022 subsidy standard are expected to be reduced by 30% as compared to the standard of 2021.could further affect our sales performance in 2023.

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Such negative influence and our undermined sales performance resulted therefrom could continue. Furthermore, China’s central government provides certain local governments with funds and subsidies to support the roll-out of a charging infrastructure. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations—Favorable Government Policies Relating to New Energy Vehicles in the PRC.” These policies are subject to change and beyond our control. We cannot assure you that any changes would be favorable to our business. Furthermore, any reduction, elimination, delayed payment or discriminatory application of government subsidies and economic incentives because of policy changes, the reduced need for such subsidies and incentives due to the perceived success of electric vehicles, fiscal tightening or other factors may result in the diminished competitiveness of the alternative fuel vehicle industry generally or our electric vehicles in particular. In addition, as we seek to increase our revenues from vehicle sales, we may also experience an increase in accounts receivable relating to government subsidies. However, the collection of the government subsidies is subject to the appropriation arrangement and cadence of the relevant governmental authority. Any uncertainty or delay in collection of the government subsidies may also have an adverse impact on our financial condition. For more details, please refer to “11. Other Non-current Assets” set forth in our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report. Any of the foregoing could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

Our vehicles may not perform in line with customer expectations.

Our vehicles including the ES8, ES6, EC6 and ET7, may not perform in line with customers’ expectations. For example, our vehicles may not have the durability or longevity of other vehicles in the market, and may not be as easy and convenient to repair as other vehicles in the market. Any product defects or any other failure of our vehicles to perform as expected could harm our reputation and result in adverse publicity, lost revenue, delivery delays, product recalls, product liability claims, harm to our brand and reputation, and significant warranty and other expenses, and could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.

In addition, the range of our vehicles on a single charge declines principally as a function of usage, time and charging patterns as well as other factors. For example, a customer’s use of his or her electric vehicle as well as the frequency with which he or she charges the battery can result in additional deterioration of the battery’s ability to hold a charge.

Furthermore, our vehicles may contain defects in design and manufacture that may cause them not to perform as expected or that may require repair. We have delivered our vehicles based on NIO Technology Platform 2.0, or NT2.0, with certain features of the NAD, our NIO Pilot ADAS system initially disabled, and subsequently turned on some of these features. We activated most of the announced functions of the NIO Pilot in 2019 and 2020,next generation, proprietary full stack autonomous driving technology, and plan to continue to exploregradually turn on more features of the NIO Pilot system in 2021.NAD. We cannot assure you that our NIO Pilot systemthe NAD will ultimately perform in line with expectations. Our vehicles use a substantial amount of software code to operate and software products are inherently complex and often contain defects and errors when first introduced.

While we have performed extensive internal testing on our vehicles’ software and hardware systems, we have a limited frame of reference by which to evaluate the long-term performance of our systems and vehicles. There can be no assurance that we will be able to detect and fix any defects in the vehicles prior to their sale to consumers. If any of our vehicles fail to perform as expected, we may need to delay deliveries, initiate product recalls and provide servicing or updates under warranty at our expense, which could adversely affect our brand in our target markets and could adversely affect our business, prospects and results of operations.

Table of December 31, 2020, we had paid JAC a total of RMB1,233.9 million, including RMB455.5 million as compensation for losses incurred since 2018 and RMB778.4 million for manufacturing and processing fees. If we are obligated to compensate JAC for any losses, our results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected, particularly if such losses are incurred as a result of lower than anticipated sales volume. We expect that our sales volume and the ability of the Hefei manufacturing plant to achieve profitability will be significantly affected by our ability to timely bring new vehicles to market.Contents

We may face challenges providing our power solutions.

We provide our users with comprehensive power solutions. We install home chargers for users upon our users’ requests where practicable, and provide other solutions, including battery swapping, supercharging, charging through publicly accessible charging infrastructure and charging using our fast-charging vans. Our users are able to use our NIO One Click for Power valet charging service where their vehicles are picked up, charged and then returned. For each of our vehicle models, we currently offer two battery options: (i) the 70 kWh and 75 kWh battery, or the Standard Range Battery; (ii) the 100 kWh battery, or the Long Range Battery. In January 2021, we announced the 150 kWh battery, or the Ultra-long Range Battery, with the next generation battery technology. We expect to deliver the Ultra-long Range Battery in 2023. We have experienced delay in delivering our power solutions in the past, and we cannot assure you that such delay will not occur again in the future.

We have very limited experience in the actual provision of our power solutions to users and providing these services is subject to challenges, including the challenges associated with sorting out the logistics of rolling out our network and teams in appropriate areas, inadequate capacity or over capacity of our services in certain areas, security risks or risk of damage to vehicles during One Click for Power valet services and the potential for lack of user acceptance of our services. In addition, although the Chinese government has supported the roll-out of a public charging network, the current number of charging infrastructures is generally considered to be insufficient. We also face uncertainties with regard to governmental support and public infrastructure as we roll out our power solutions, including whether we can obtain and maintain access to sufficient charging infrastructure, whether we can obtain any required permits and land use rights and complete any required filings, and whether the government support in this area may discontinue.

Furthermore, given our limited experience in providing power solutions, there could be unanticipated challenges which may hinder our ability to provide our solutions or make the provision of our solutions costlier than anticipated. To the extent we are unable to meet user expectations or experience difficulties in providing our power solutions, our reputation and business may be materially and adversely affected.

We may face challenges providing the Battery as a Service.

On August 20, 2020, we introduced the Battery as a Service, or BaaS, which allows users to purchase electric vehicles and subscribe the usage of battery packs separately. If users opt to purchase an ES8, ES6, EC6 or ET7 model and subscribe to use the 70kWh battery pack under the BaaS, they can enjoy an RMB70,000 deduction off the original vehicle purchase price and pay a monthly subscription fee of RMB980 for the battery pack. On November 6, 2020, we launched the 100kWh battery pack with battery update plans. If users opt to purchase an ES8, ES6, EC6 or ET7 and subscribe for the 100kWh battery pack under the BaaS, they can purchase the vehicle without the battery pack while paying a monthly subscription fee of RMB1,480. Users who currently apply the 70kWh battery pack with the intention to upgrade their batteries can choose to either purchase a 100kWh battery pack for permanent upgrades or pay a monthly subscription fee of RMB880 for a flexible upgrade package.

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We have received only a limited number of reservations for the ES8, the ES6, the EC6 and the ET7,our vehicles, all of which are subject to cancellation.

Intention orders and reservationsReservations for our vehicles are subject to cancellation by the customer until delivery of the vehicle. We have experienced cancellations in the past. While we require a deposit of less than 2.0% of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, or the MSRP, such deposit becomes non-refundable after a certain period of time upon which the reservation will be automatically confirmed. Notwithstanding the non-refundable deposits we charge for the reservations,deposit, our users may still cancel their reservations for many reasons outside of our control. The potentially long wait from the time a reservation is made until the time the vehicle is delivered could also impact user decisions on whether to ultimately make a purchase, due to potential changes in preferences, competitive developments and other factors. If we encounter delays in the delivery of the ES8, ES6, EC6, ET7,our current or future vehicles,vehicle models, we believe that a significant number of reservations may be cancelled. As a result, no assurance can be made that reservations will not be cancelled and will ultimately result in the final purchase, delivery, and sale of the vehicle. Such cancellations could harm our financial condition, business, prospects and operating results.

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In addition, we may face operational issues that could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business and results of operations, if we fail to address certain factors including, but not limited to, the following:

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We face challenges in developing our subscription business and leasing programs in the new markets, and our vehicles used for our subscription may be stolen, damaged or destroyed before being returned to us, or our car leasing partners may run into operational difficulties, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospectus.

We began to offer subscription offerings in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden starting from October 2022, which requires significant capital. We may incur losses or otherwise fail to introduce the service successfully. For example, we may incur insufficient utilization rate of our fleets under the subscription offering and therefore only generate lower-than-expected revenue. We also face risks in connection with the expansion of our customer base in Europe through our subscription offering. For example, customers of our vehicle subscription may have a higher-than-expected rate of default due to macroeconomic factors or if we fail to correctly assess their creditworthiness, which would result in increased costs incurred by our company.

In addition, we cooperate with partners in European market who engage in car leasing business. We sell vehicles to the car leasing partners who will then lease the cars purchased from us to the end customers. As such customers would use NIO vehicles and enjoy certain NIO services, such as using NIO app and entering into NIO House, if our car leasing partners run into any operational difficulties, our users’ experience may be negatively affected, our brand name could be compromised.

Furthermore, given that our vehicles are typically stored in unroofed parking lots under the vehicle subscription offering, force majeure events such as flooding, fires or hail may affect a large number of our vehicles. This type of parking lot also has an increased risk of theft or vandalism. Such events may cause us to incur large, uninsured damages, deprive us of a significant portion of our inventory and reduce customer satisfaction if we cannot deliver subscribed vehicles. In addition, vehicles provided to customers under our vehicle subscription service may be stolen, damaged or destroyed before being returned to us. While we carry insurance for our vehicles, the insurance coverage may not be sufficient.

As of December 31, 2022, our subscription business and leasing programs were not material. However, with the expansion of the subscription business and leasing programs in the future, any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We are subject to the risk of a decrease in the residual value of used vehicles under our subscription offering.

As the actual owner of the vehicles under the subscription offering, we are exposed to the risk that the subscription value of our existing vehicles could decrease after new vehicle models are released, which will reduce our asset value. We are also exposed to the risk that the market value of the vehicles returned at the end of the relevant subscription term may be lower than the calculated residual value at the time the relevant subscription contract was entered into, which may in turn increases the likelihood that the future subscription price for the returned vehicle turns out to be lower than expected. A decline in the value of used vehicles can be caused by a broad range of external factors affecting the vehicle market, including adverse changes in customer confidence and preferences, economic conditions, government policies, exchange rates, marketing programs, price pressure in the new vehicle, the actual or perceived safety or reliability of vehicles, the price of raw materials regained from recycling or scrapping, or technological developments.

Uncertainties may also exist regarding the internal methods for calculating residual values. Although we continuously employ residual value models and monitor used vehicle prices, demand and supply trends and other factors to forecast residual values, the assumptions on which residual value assessments are based may prove to be incorrect. In addition, in the case that actual residual values, due to changes in market or regulatory conditions, turn out to be lower than the amounts calculated for our subscription pricing, provisions for residual value risk may be insufficient. Similarly, if the market value of the used cars decreases, we may have to record write-downs beyond its existing reserves for used vehicle inventory risk. Finally, a significant decrease in the value of used vehicles may create pricing pressure for our new car business if customers are not willing to pay significantly higher prices in monthly subscription payments as a consequence of decreased residual values.

As a result of the above factors, with the expansion of the subscription business in the future, if the market value of the used vehicles under our subscription service is significantly below our estimate, it may have a material adverse effect on our business, assets, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

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Our industry and its technology are rapidly evolving and may be subject to unforeseen changes. Developments in alternative technologies or improvements in the internal combustion engine may materially and adversely affect the demand for our electric vehicles.

We operate in China’s electric vehicle market, which is rapidly evolving and may not develop as we anticipate. TheWe face unanticipated risks such as the increase of lithium price, which may reduce the demand of battery electric vehicle and negatively impact on our business. Also, the regulatory framework governing the industry is currently uncertain and may remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. As our industry and our business develop, we may need to modify our business model or change our services and solutions. These changes may not achieve expected results, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and prospects.

Furthermore, we may be unable to keep up with changes in electric vehicle technology and, as a result, our competitiveness may suffer. Our research and development efforts may not be sufficient to adapt to changes in electric vehicle technology. As technologies change, we plan to upgrade or adapt our vehicles and introduce new models in order to provide vehicles with the latest technology, in particular digital technologies, which could involve substantial costs and lower our return on investment for existing vehicles. There can be no assurance that we will be able to compete effectively with alternative vehicles or source and integrate the latest technology into our vehicles, against the backdrop of our rapidly evolving industry. Even if we are able to keep pace with changes in technology and develop new models, our prior models could become obsolete more quickly than expected, potentially reducing our return on investment.

Developments in alternative technologies, such as advanced diesel, ethanol, fuel cells or compressed natural gas, or improvements in the fuel economy of the internal combustion engine, may materially and adversely affect our business and prospects in ways we do not currently anticipate. For example, fuel which is abundant and relatively inexpensive in China, such as compressed natural gas, may emerge as consumers’ preferred alternative to petroleum based propulsion. Any failure by us to successfully react to changes in existing technologies could materially harm our competitive position and growth prospects.

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In the long term, we intend to supplement cells from our suppliers with cells manufactured by us, which are customized to meet our specific requirements. However, our efforts to develop and manufacture such battery cells have required, and may continue to require, significant investments, and there can be no assurance that we will always be able to achieve these targets in the timeframes that we have planned or at all. If we are unable to do so, we may have to curtail our planned vehicle production or procure additional cells from suppliers at potentially greater costs, either of which may harm our business and operating results.

Furthermore, currency fluctuations, tariffs or shortages in petroleum and other economic or political conditions may result in significant increases in freight charges and raw material costs. Substantial increases in the prices for our raw materials or components would increase our operating costs, and could reduce our margins. In addition, a growth in popularity of electric vehicles without a significant expansion in battery cell production capacity could result in shortages which would result in increased costs in raw materials to us or impact of prospects.

We are dependent on our suppliers, many of whom are our single source suppliers for the components they supply.

The ES8, ES6, EC6 and ET7 eachEach of our vehicle models uses a great amount of purchased parts from suppliers, many of whom are currently our single source suppliers for these components, and we expect that this will be similar for any future vehicle we may produce. The supply chain exposes us to multiple potential sources of delivery failure or component shortages. While we obtain components from multiple sources whenever possible, similar to other automobile manufacturers,players in our industry, many of the components used in our vehicles are purchased by us from a single source. To date, we have not qualified alternative sources for most of the single sourced components used in our vehicles and we generally do not maintain long-term agreements with some of our single source suppliers. For example, while several sources of the battery cell we have selected for the ES8 are available, we have fully qualified only one supplier for these cells.

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For each user under the BaaS model, we sell a battery to Wuhan Weineng Battery Asset Co., Ltd., or the Battery Asset Company, and the user subscribes for the usage of the battery from the Battery Asset Company. The service we provide to our users under the BaaS relies, in part, on the smooth operation of and stability and quality of service delivered by the Battery Asset Company, which we cannot guarantee. We invested in the Battery Asset Company with CATL, Hubei Science Technology Investment Group Co., Ltd. and a subsidiary of Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited, which we refer to as the Initial BaaS Investors in this annual report. We and the Initial BaaS Investors each invested RMB200 million and held 25% equity interests in the Battery Asset Company at its establishment. In December 2020, April 2021, August 2021 and July 2022, respectively, the Battery Asset Company entered into agreements with new and existing investors for additional financing. We refer to the Initial BaaS Investors together with the other investors of the Battery Asset Company that subsequently joined as the Battery Asset Company Investors. As of the date of this annual report, we beneficially own approximately 19.4% of the equity interests in the Battery Asset Company. As a result, we only have limited control over the business operations of the Battery Asset Company. If it fails in delivering smooth and stable operations, we will suffer from negative customer reviews and even returns of products or services and our reputation may be materially and adversely affected.

Additionally, given that we generate a portion of our total revenues from sales of battery purchases and provision of service to the Battery Asset Company, our results of operations and financial performance will be negatively affected if the Battery Asset Company fails to operate smoothly. The Battery Asset Company may finance the purchase of batteries through issuance of equity and debt or bank borrowing. If the Battery Asset Company is unable to obtain future financings from the Battery Asset Company Investors or other third parties to meet its operational needs, it may not be able to make payments to us for the batteries purchased from us on time, to continue purchasing batteries from us and providing them to our users through battery subscription, or to otherwise maintain its healthy and sustainable operations. On the other hand, if the Battery Asset Company bears a significant rate of customer default on its payment obligations, its results of operations and financial performance may be materially impacted, which will in turn reduce the value of our and the Battery Asset Company Investors’ investments in the Battery Asset Company. In addition, in furtherance of the BaaS, we agreed to provide guarantee to the Battery Asset Company for the default in payment of monthly subscription fees from users, while the maximum amount of guarantee that can be claimed shall not be higher than the accumulated service fees we receive from the Battery Asset Company. As the BaaS user base is expanding, if an increased number of default occurs, our results of operations and financial performance will be negatively affected. As of December 31, 2022, the guarantee liability we provided to Battery Asset Company was immaterial.

Our business is subject to a variety of laws, regulations, rules, policies and other obligations regarding cybersecurity, privacy, data protection and information security. Any failure to comply with these laws, regulations and other obligations or any losses, unauthorized access or releases of confidential information or personal data could subject us to significant reputational, financial, legal and operational consequences.

We face significant challenges with respect to information security and privacy, including the storage, transmission and sharing of confidential information. We use our vehicles’ electronic systems to log information about each vehicle’s use, such as charge time, battery usage, mileage and driving behavior, in order to aid us in vehicle diagnostics, repair and maintenance, as well as to help us customize and optimize the driving and riding experience. Our users may object to the use of this data, which may hinder our capabilities in conducting our business. We also transmit and store certain confidential and private information of our vehicle buyers, including certain personal information such as names, accounts, user IDs and passwords, and payment or transaction related information. Collection, transmission, possession and use of our user’s data in conducting our business may subject us to legislative and regulatory burdens in China and other jurisdictions that could require notification of any data breach, restrict our use of such information and hinder our ability to acquire new customers or market to existing customers.

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We are required by PRC law to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, availability and authenticity of the information of our customers, which is also essential to maintaining their confidence in our vehicles and services. We have adopted strict information security policies and deployed advanced measures to implement the policies, including, among others, advanced encryption technologies. However, advances in technology, an increased level of sophistication and diversity of our products and services, an increased level of expertise of hackers, new discoveries in the field of cryptography or others can still result in a compromise or breach of the measures that we use. If we are unable to protect our systems, and hence the information stored in our systems, from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification or destruction, such problems or security breaches could cause a loss, give rise to our liabilities to the owners of confidential information or even subject us to fines and penalties. If users allege that we have improperly collected, used, transmitted, released or disclosed their personal information, we could face legal claims and reputational damage. In addition, we may incur significant expenses to comply with privacy, consumer protection and security standards and protocols imposed by laws, regulations, industry standards or contractual obligations, some of which may not be compatible with our existing business practice. If third parties improperly obtain and use the personal information of our users, we may be required to expend significant resources to resolve these problems. In December 2022, we were made aware that certain user information and vehicle sales information in China before August 2021 was for sale on the internet by third parties for illegal purposes. We followed the PRC legal requirements on data leakage incident settlement, and also issued a public statement in China related to the incident, including providing a dedicated hotline and an email address to respond to user queries regarding the data leakage. We have also undertaken the responsibilities for the loss that the users may incur, if any, in connection with the data leakage. As of the date of this annual report, we were not aware of significant issues related to the security of our electronic systems nor did we receive any claims from users.

In general, we expect that data security and data protection compliance will receive greater attention and focus from regulators, both domestically and globally, as well as attract continued or greater public scrutiny and attention going forward, which could increase our compliance costs and subject us to heightened risks and challenges associated with data security and protection. Significant capital and other resources may be required to protect against information security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by such breaches or to comply with our privacy policies or privacy-related legal obligations. The resources required may increase over time as the methods used by hackers and others engaged in online criminal activities are increasingly sophisticated and constantly evolving. Any failure or perceived failure by us to prevent information security breaches or to comply with privacy policies or privacy-related legal requirements, or any security breach that results in the unauthorized release or transfer of personally identifiable information or other customer data, could cause our customers to lose trust in us and could expose us to legal claims. Any perception by the public that online transactions or the privacy of user information are becoming increasingly unsafe or vulnerable to attacks could inhibit the growth of online retail and other online services generally, which may reduce the number of orders we receive.

The PRC regulatory and enforcement regime with regard to data security and data protection is evolving and may be subject to different interpretations or significant changes. Moreover, different PRC regulatory bodies, including the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, or the SCNPC, the MIIT, the CAC, the Ministry of Public Security, or the MPS, and the State Administration for Market Regulation, or the SAMR, have enforced data privacy and protections laws and regulations with varying standards and applications. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations on Internet Information Security and Privacy Protection.” The following are examples of certain recent PRC regulatory activities in this area:

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Data Security

In June 2021, the SCNPC promulgated the Data Security Law, which took effect in September 2021. The Data Security Law, among other things, provides for security review procedure for data-related activities that may affect national security. In July 2021, the State Council of the PRC promulgated the Regulations on the Protection of the Security of Critical Information Infrastructure, which became effective on September 1, 2021. Pursuant to this regulation, critical information infrastructure means key network facilities or information systems of critical industries or sectors, such as public communication and information service, energy, transportation, water conservation, finance, public services, e-government affairs and national defence science, the damage, malfunction or data leakage of which may endanger national security, people’s livelihoods and the public interest. In December 2021, the CAC, together with other authorities, jointly promulgated the Cybersecurity Review Measures, which became effective on February 15, 2022 and replaces its predecessor regulation. Pursuant to the Cybersecurity Review Measures, critical information infrastructure operators that procure internet products and services and network platform operators that conduct data process activities must be subject to the cybersecurity review if their activities affect or may affect national security. The Cybersecurity Review Measures further stipulates that network platform operators that hold personal information of over one million users shall apply with the Cybersecurity Review Office for a cybersecurity review before any public offering at a foreign stock exchange. Relevant PRC governmental authorities may also initiate cybersecurity review if they determine certain network products, services, or data processing activities affect or may affect national security. As of the date of this annual report, no detailed rules or implementation rules have been issued by any authority and we have not been informed that we are a critical information infrastructure operator by any government authorities. Furthermore, the scope of “network products or services or data processing activities that will or may affect national security” and the scope of operators of “critical information infrastructure” remains unclear, and the PRC government authorities may have wide discretion in the interpretation and enforcement of the applicable laws.

In November 2021, the CAC released the Administration Regulations on the Cyber Data Security (Draft for Comments), or the Draft Regulations. The Draft Regulations provide that data processors refer to individuals or organizations that, during their data processing activities such as data collection, storage, utilization, transmission, publication and deletion, have autonomy over the purpose and the manner of data processing. In accordance with the Draft Regulations, data processors shall apply for a cybersecurity review for certain activities, including, among other things, (i) the listing abroad of data processors that process the personal information of more than one million users and (ii) any data processing activity that affects or may affect national security. However, there have been no clarifications from the relevant authorities as of the date of this annual report as to the standards for determining whether an activity is one that “affects or may affect national security.” In addition, the Draft Regulations requires that data processors that process “important data” or are listed overseas must conduct an annual data security assessment by itself or commission a data security service provider to do so, and submit the assessment report of the preceding year to the municipal cybersecurity department by the end of January each year. As of the date of this annual report, there is no definitive timetable as to when the Draft Regulations will be enacted.

In 2021, the PRC government initiated cybersecurity reviews against a number of mobile applications operated by several US-listed Chinese companies and prohibited relevant applications from registering new users during the review period. We expect that cybersecurity and data protection issues will receive greater and continued attention and scrutiny from regulators and the public going forward, which could increase our compliance costs and subject us to heightened risks and challenges associated with data security and protection, as well as negative publicity. If the Cybersecurity Review Measures and the enacted version of the Draft Regulations mandate clearance of cybersecurity review and other specific actions to be taken by overseas listed companies like us, we face uncertainties as to whether these additional procedures can be completed by us timely, or at all, which may subject us to government enforcement actions and investigations, fines, penalties, revocation of the required licenses, suspension of our non-compliant operations, or removal of our mobile application from the relevant application stores, and materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations. As of the date of this annual report, we have not been involved in any formal investigations on cybersecurity review made by the CAC on such basis.

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Personal Information and Privacy

In August 2021, the SCNPC promulgated the Personal Information Protection Law, which integrates the scattered rules with respect to personal information rights and privacy protection and took effect on November 1, 2021. We update our policies and binding contracts related to personal data and cybersecurity protection from time to time to meet the latest regulatory requirements of applicable PRC laws and regulations, and adopt technical measures to protect such data and ensure cybersecurity in a systematic manner. Nonetheless, the Personal Information Protection Law elevates the protection requirements for personal information processing, and many specific requirements of this law remain to be clarified by the CAC, other regulatory authorities, and courts in practice. In addition, on August 16, 2021, the CAC, the NDRC, the MPS, the MIIT and the Ministry of Transport jointly promulgated the Several Provisions on Automobile Data Security Management (Trial Implementation), which impose a series of additional personal information and data security protection obligations on automobile data processors like us, including, among other things, (i) in-car processing of automobile data in principle, (ii) enhanced notification and consent requirements, (iii) enhanced individual control over their automobile personal information, and (iv) submitting annual report for processing automobile important data. We may be required to make further adjustments to our business practices to comply with the personal information and data protection laws and regulations.

Many of the data-related legislations are relatively new and certain concepts thereunder remain subject to interpretation by the regulators. In general, compliance with the existing PRC laws and regulations, as well as additional laws and regulations that PRC regulatory bodies may enact in the future, related to data security and personal information protection, may be costly and result in additional expenses to us, and subject us to negative publicity, which could harm our reputation and business operations. There are also uncertainties with respect to how such laws and regulations will be implemented and interpreted in practice.

In addition, regulatory authorities in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere around the world have adopted or are considering a number of legislative and regulatory proposals concerning data protection. These legislative and regulatory proposals, if adopted, and the uncertain interpretations and application thereof could, in addition to the possibility of fines, result in an order requiring that we change our data practices and policies, which could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations. For example, the European Union adopted the European Union General Data Protection Regulation, or the GDPR, which came into effect on May 25, 2018. The GDPR includes operational requirements for companies that receive or process personal data of residents of the European Economic Area, and establishes new requirements applicable to the processing of personal data, affords new data protection rights to individuals and imposes penalties for serious data breaches. Individuals also have a right to compensation under the GDPR for financial or non-financial losses. As we offer our products and services in European market, we are subject to provisions of the GDPR.

Our business and prospects depend significantly on our ability to build our NIO brand. We may not succeed in continuing to establish, maintain and strengthen the NIO brand, and our brand and reputation could be harmed by negative publicity regarding our company or products.

Our business and prospects are heavily dependent on our ability to develop, maintain and strengthen the “NIO” brand. If we do not continue to establish, maintain and strengthen our brand, we may lose the opportunity to build a critical mass of customers. Promoting and positioning our brand will likely depend significantly on our ability to provide high quality vehicles and services and engage with our customers as intended and we have limited experience in these areas. In addition, we expect that our ability to develop, maintain and strengthen the NIO brand will depend heavily on the success of our user development and branding efforts. Such efforts mainly include building a community of online and offline users engaged with us through our mobile application, NIO Houses, NIO Spaces as well as other branding initiatives such as our annual NIO Day Formula E team sponsorship, and other automotive shows and events. Such efforts may be non-traditional and may not achieve the desired results. To promote our brand, we may be required to change our user development and branding practices, which could result in substantially increased expenses, including the need to use traditional media such as television, radio and print. If we do not develop and maintain a strong brand, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results will be materially and adversely impacted.

In addition, if incidents occur or are perceived to have occurred, whether or not such incidents are our fault, we could be subject to adverse publicity. In particular, given the popularity of social media, including WeChat/Weixin in China, any negative publicity, whether true or not, could quickly proliferate and harm consumer perceptions and confidence in our brand. Furthermore, there is the risk of potential adverse publicity related to our manufacturing orand other partners, such as JAC and NIO Capital, whether or not such publicity related to their collaboration with us. Our ability to successfully position our brand could also be adversely affected by perceptions about the quality of our partners’JAC’s vehicles.

In addition, from time to time, our vehicles are evaluated and reviewed by third parties. Any negative reviews or reviews which compare us unfavorably to competitors could adversely affect consumer perception about our vehicles.

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Our business depends substantially on the continuing efforts of our executive officers, key employees and qualified personnel, and our operations may be severely disrupted if we lose their services.

Our success depends substantially on the continued efforts of our executive officers and key employees. If one or more of our executive officers or key employees were unable or unwilling to continue their services with us, we might not be able to replace them easily, in a timely manner, or at all. As we build our brand and become more well-known, the risk that competitors or other companies may poach our talent increases. Our industry is characterized by high demand and intense competition for talent and therefore we cannot assure you that we will be able to attract or retain qualified staff or other highly skilled employees. In addition, because our electric vehicles are based on a different technology platform than traditional ICE vehicles, individuals with sufficient training in electric vehicles may not be available to hire, and we will need to expend significant time and expense training the employees we hire. We also require sufficient talent in areas such as software development. Furthermore, as our company is relatively young, our ability to train and integrate new employees into our operations may not meet the growing demands of our business, which may materially and adversely affect our ability to grow our business and our results of operations.

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We may be exposed to credit risk of trade receivables.

Our trade receivables primarily include amounts of vehicle sales in relation of government subsidy to be collected from government on behalf of customers, auto financing receivables, current portion of battery installment and receivables due from vehicle users. We have identified the relevant risk characteristics of our customers and the related receivables, prepayments, deposits and other receivables which include size, type of the services or the products we provide, or a combination of these characteristics. Receivables with similar risk characteristics have been grouped into pools. For each pool, we consider the historical credit loss, current economic conditions, supportable forecasts of future economic conditions, and any recoveries in assessing the lifetime expected credit losses. Other key factors that influence the expected credit loss analysis include customer demographics, payment terms offered in the normal course of business to customers, and industry-specific factors that could impact our receivables. Additionally, external data and macroeconomic factors are also considered. In 2022, we recorded RMB48.7 million (US$7.1 million) expected credit loss expense in selling, general and administrative expenses. As of December 31, 2022, the expected credit loss provision for the current and non-current assets were RMB140.1 million (US$20.3 million). We cannot assure you that all of our customers will not default on their obligations to us in the future, despite our efforts to conduct credit assessment on them.

We face inventory risks that, if not properly managed, could harm our financial condition, operating results, and prospects.

We are exposed to significant inventory risks that may adversely affect our operating results as a result of increased competition, seasonality, new models launches, rapid changes in vehicle life cycles and pricing, defective vehicles, changes in consumer demand and consumer spending patterns, and other factors. We endeavor to accurately predict these trends and avoid overstocking or understocking issues. Demand for our vehicles, however, can change significantly between the time inventory or components are ordered and the date of sale. We may misjudge customer demand, resulting in inventory buildup and possible significant inventory write-down. It may also make it more difficult for us to inspect and control quality and ensure proper handling, storage and delivery. We may experience higher return rates on new vehicles, receive more customer complaints about them and face costly product liability claims as a result of selling them, which would harm our brand and reputation as well as our financial performance.

We might not be able to fulfil our obligation in respect of deferred revenue, which might have impact on our cash or liquidity position.

Our recognition of deferred revenue is subject to future performance obligations, mainly including the transaction price allocated to the performance obligations that are unsatisfied, or partially satisfied, which mainly arises from the undelivered home chargers, the vehicle connectivity service, the extended warranty service, the points offered to customers as well as battery swapping service embedded in the vehicle sales contract. We may have multiple performance obligations identified in the vehicle sales contract and the sales of packages to transfer goods or services to a customer for which we have received consideration, or an amount of consideration is due, from the customer, which is recorded as deferred revenue. Due to potential future changes in customer preferences and the need for us to satisfactorily perform product support and other services, deferred revenue at any particular date may not be representative of actual revenue for any current or future period. Any failure to fulfil the obligations in respect of deferred revenue may have an adverse impact on our results of operations and liquidity.

Fluctuation of fair value change of short-term investments we made may affect our results of operations.

For the years ended December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022, our short-term investments consisted primarily of investments in fixed deposits with maturities between three months and one year and investments in money market funds and financial products issued by banks. The methodologies that we use to assess the fair value of the short-term investment involve a significant degree of management judgment and are inherently uncertain. In addition, we are exposed to credit risks in relation to our short-term investments, which may adversely affect the net changes in their fair value. We cannot assure you that market conditions will create fair value gains on our short-term investment or we will not incur any fair value losses on our short-term investment in the future. If we incur such fair value losses, our results of operations, financial condition and prospects may be adversely affected.

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We may become subject to product liability claims, which could harm our financial condition and liquidity if we are not able to successfully defend or insure against such claims.

We may become subject to product liability claims, which could harm our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition. The automotive industry experiences significant product liability claims and we face inherent risk of exposure to claims in the event our vehicles do not perform as expected or malfunction resulting in property damage, personal injury or death. Our risks in this area are particularly pronounced given we have limited field experience of our vehicles. In addition, we may be subject to product liability claims for defective components and parts that are manufactured by our third-party partners. A successful product liability claim against us could require us to pay a substantial monetary award. Moreover, a product liability claim could generate substantial negative publicity about our vehicles and business and inhibit or prevent commercialization of our future vehicle candidates which would have a material adverse effect on our brand, business, prospects and operating results. Any insurance coverage might not be sufficient to cover all potential product liability claims. Any lawsuit seeking significant monetary damages may have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business and financial condition.

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We may be compelled to undertake product recalls or take other actions, which could adversely affect our brand image and financial performance.

Recalls of our vehicles can cause adverse publicity, damage to our brand and liability for costs. In June 2019,For example, in January 2023, we identified problems with certain battery packs on ES8 vehicles following safety incidents occurred in Shanghai and other locations in China. We then voluntarily recalled 4,803 ES8s,997 ET5 electric vehicles manufactured between September 7, 2022 and replaced the batteriesOctober 10, 2022 due to a potential safety hazard in the NIO battery swap network equipped with the malfunctioned modules. We undertook to compensate all users who had incurred property losses asextreme cases of a result of incidents causedserious frontal collision, which could be retrofitted by battery quality issues.adding a high-strength insulating protective cover. In the future, we may at various times, voluntarily or involuntarily, initiate a recall if any of our vehicles, including any systems or parts sourced from our suppliers, prove to be defective or non-compliant with applicable laws and regulations. Such recalls, whether voluntary or involuntary or caused by systems or components engineered or manufactured by us or our suppliers, could involve significant expense and could adversely affect our brand image in our target markets, as well as our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

OurThe long-term viability of our distribution model is different from the predominant current distribution model for automobile manufacturers, which makes evaluating our business, operating results and future prospects difficult.unproven.

Our distribution model is not common in the automotive industry today.vehicles are generally made to order. We plan to conduct vehicle sales directly to users rather than through dealerships, primarily through our mobile application, NIO Houses and NIO Spaces. Furthermore, generally all vehicles are made to order.Spaces, rather than through dealerships. This model of vehicle distribution is relatively new and unproven, and subjects us to substantial risk as it requires, in the aggregate, significant expenditures and provides for slower expansion of our distribution and sales systems than may be possible by utilizing the traditional dealer franchise system.system commonly applied for the sales of ICE vehicles and other EV companies. For example, we will not be able to utilize long established sales channels developed through a franchise system to increase our sales volume. Moreover, we will be competing with companies with well established distribution channels. Our success will depend in large part on our ability to effectively develop our own sales channels and marketing strategies. Implementing our business model is subject to numerous significant challenges, including obtaining permits and approvals from government authorities, and we may not be successful in addressing these challenges.

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We are subject to risks related to the investment in NIO China.

In February 2020, we entered into a collaboration framework agreement with the municipal government of Hefei, Anhui province, where our main manufacturing hub is located. Subsequently from April to June 2020, we entered into definitive agreements, as amended and supplemented, or the Hefei Agreements, for investments in NIO China with a group of investors, which we refer to as the Hefei Strategic Investors in this annual report. Under the Hefei Agreements, the Hefei Strategic Investors agreed to invest an aggregate of RMB7 billion in cash into NIO Holding Co., Ltd. (previously known as NIO (Anhui) Holding Co., Ltd.), or NIO China, a legal entity wholly owned by us pre-investment. We agreed to inject our core businesses and assets in China, including vehicle research and development, supply chain, sales and services and NIO Power, or together as the Asset Consideration, valued at RMB17.77RMB 17.77 billion in total, into NIO China, and invest RMB4.26 billion in cash into NIO China. For more information, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Certain Other Cooperation Arrangements—Hefei Strategic Investors” included elsewhere in this annual report. For more information on the provisions of the Hefei Agreements, please refer to exhibits 4.30 to 4.38 of this annual report.

Pursuant to the Hefei Agreements, NIO China will establish its headquarters in the Hefei Economic and Technological Development Area, or HETA, where our main manufacturing hub is located, for its business operations, research and development, sales and services, supply chain and manufacturing functions. We will collaborate with the Hefei Strategic Investors and HETA to develop NIO China’s business and to support the accelerated development of the smart electric vehicle sectors in Hefei in the future.

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In addition, before NIO China completes its potential qualified initial public offering, without the prior written consent of the Hefei Strategic Investors, we may not directly or indirectly transfer, pledge or otherwise dispose of NIO China’s shares to a third party that may result in our shareholding in NIO China falling below 60%. Without the prior written consent of the Hefei Strategic Investors, we have the right to directly or indirectly transfer, pledge or otherwise dispose of no more than 15% of NIO China’s shares.

Because we will injecthave injected the core businesses and assets into NIO China, the Hefei Strategic Investors will have senior claims over the assets of NIO China compared to NIO China’s other shareholders (i.e., our other subsidiaries) when a liquidation event of NIO China occurs. As a result, holders of our Class A ordinary shares and ADSs will be structurally subordinated to the Hefei Strategic Investors, which may negatively affect the value of the investment of ADS holders and holders of Class A ordinary shares in our company. We may not have sufficient funding to repay our existing debts. Furthermore,We essentially control the daily operation of and substantially all of the corporate matters of NIO China. Notwithstanding this, the Hefei Strategic Investors will have voting rights with respect to various significant corporate matters of NIO China and its consolidated entities, such as change in NIO China’s corporate structure, change of its core business and amendment to its articles of association, which may significantly limit our ability to make certain major corporate decisions with regard to NIO China. Any of the foregoing could materially adversely affect your investment in our Class A ordinary shares and ADSs.

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In addition,The terms of the convertible notes we may needissued could delay or prevent an attempt to comply with increasingly complextake over our company.

The terms of the 2024 Notes, 2026 Notes and rigorous regulatory standards enacted2027 Notes require us to protect business and personal datarepurchase the respective notes in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere. For example, the European Union adopted the General Data Protection Regulation, or the GDPR, which became effective on May 25, 2018. The GDPR imposes additional obligations on companies regarding the handlingevent of personal data and provides certain individual privacy rights to persons whose data is stored. Compliance with existing, proposed and recently enacted laws (including implementation of the privacy and process enhancements called for under GDPR) and regulations can be costly; any failure to comply with these regulatory standards could subject us to legal and reputational risks.

We generally comply with industry standards and are subject to the termsa fundamental change. A takeover of our own privacy policies. Compliance with any additional lawscompany would constitute a fundamental change. This could be expensive, and may place restrictions onhave the conducteffect of delaying or preventing a takeover of our business and the manner in which we interact with our customers. Any failure to comply with applicable regulations could also result in regulatory enforcement actions against us, and misuse of or failure to secure personal information could also result in violation of data privacy laws and regulations, proceedings against us by governmental entities or others, damagecompany that may otherwise be beneficial to our reputation and credibility and could have a negative impact on revenues and profits.

Significant capital and other resources may be required to protect against information security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by such breaches or to comply with our privacy policies or privacy-related legal obligations. The resources required may increase over time as the methods used by hackers and others engaged in online criminal activities are increasingly sophisticated and constantly evolving. Any failure or perceived failure by us to prevent information security breaches or to comply with privacy policies or privacy-related legal obligations, or any compromise of security that results in the unauthorized release or transfer of personally identifiable information or other customer data, could cause our customers to lose trust in us and could expose us to legal claims. Any perception by the public that online transactions or the privacy of user information are becoming increasingly unsafe or vulnerable to attacks could inhibit the growth of online retail and other online services generally, which may reduce the number of orders we receive.shareholders.

Our warranty reserves may be insufficient to cover future warranty claims which could adversely affect our financial performance.

For the initial owner of the ES8, the ES6, the EC6, and the ET7, we provide an extended warranty, subject to certain conditions. Inour vehicles in China, in addition to the warranty required under the relevant PRC law, we also provideincluding (i) a bumper-to-bumper three-year or 120,000-kilometer warranty, (ii) for critical EV components (battery, pack, electricalelectric motors, power electricalelectric unit and vehicle control unit) an eight-year or 120,000-kilometer warranty, and (iii) a two-year or 50,000 kilometer warranty covering vehicle repair, replacement and refund.refund, we also provide an extended warranty, subject to certain conditions. For the owners of our vehicles in Europe, in addition to the warranty required under the applicable laws and regulations, we also provide an extended warranty subject to certain conditions. Our warranty program is similar to other vehicle manufacturer’sauto company’s warranty programs intended to cover all parts and labor to repair defects in material or workmanship in the body, chassis, suspension, interior, electric systems,system, battery, electric powertrain, and brake system.etc.. We plan to record and adjust warranty reserves based on changes in estimated costs and actual warranty costs.

However, because we did not startonly started making delivery of theour first volume-manufactured vehicle model ES8 untilin June 2018, of the ES6 until June 2019 and of the EC6 until September of 2020, and will not start making deliveries of the ET7 until the first quarter in 2022, we have little experience with warranty claims regarding our vehicles or with estimating warranty reserves. As of December 31, 2020,2022, we had warranty reserves in respect of our vehicles of RMB952.9RMB2,946.9 million (US$146.0427.3 million). We cannot assure you that such reserves will be sufficient to cover future claims. We could, in the future, become subject to a significant and unexpected warranty claims, resulting in significant expenses, which would in turn materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

We may need to defend ourselves against patent or trademark infringement claims, which may be time-consuming and would cause us to incur substantial costs.

Companies, organizations or individuals, including our competitors, may hold or obtain patents, trademarks or other proprietary rights that would prevent, limit or interfere with our ability to make, use, develop, sell or market our vehicles or components, which could make it more difficult for us to operate our business. From time to time, we may receive communications from holders of patents or trademarks regarding their proprietary rights. Companies holding patents or other intellectual property rights may bring suits alleging infringement of such rights or otherwise assert their rights and urge us to take licenses. Our applications and uses of trademarks relating to our design, software or artificial intelligence technologies could be found to infringe upon existing trademark ownership and rights. In addition, ifFor example, a German automotive manufacturer claimed infringement of its trademark rights by us based on resemblance of model designations of certain of our vehicles with theirs. For that purpose, it has filed an infringement lawsuit with the Munich Regional Court against us and brought certain opposition or cancellation proceedings against our use of the aforesaid model designations in front of competent intellectual property authorities in certain jurisdictions. As of the date of this annual report, the lawsuit and the proceedings are still ongoing and we have not received any final and binding decisions. We cannot assure you that the final ruling will be in our favor. If we are not permitted to use these model names in Europe or other jurisdictions where our vehicles are offered, our sales performance there may be negatively affected, which in turn would harm our results of operations and financial condition.

If we are determined to have infringed upon a third party’s intellectual property rights, we may be required to do one or more of the following:

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In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us and our failure or inability to obtain a license to the infringed technology or other intellectual property right, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, any litigation or claims, whether or not valid, could result in substantial costs, negative publicity and diversion of resources and management attention.

We may not be able to prevent others from unauthorized use of our intellectual property, which could harm our business and competitive position.

We regard our trademarks, service marks, patents, domain names, trade secrets, proprietary technologies and similar intellectual property as critical to our success. We rely on trademark and patent law, trade secret protection and confidentiality and license agreements with our employees and others to protect our proprietary rights.

We have invested significant resources to develop our own intellectual property. Failure to maintain or protect these rights could harm our business. In addition, any unauthorized use of our intellectual property by third parties may adversely affect our current and future revenues and our reputation.

Implementation and enforcement of PRC intellectual property-related laws have historically been deficient and ineffective. Accordingly, protection of intellectual property rights in China may not be as effective as in the United States or other countries with more developed intellectual property laws. Furthermore, policing unauthorized use of proprietary technology is difficult and expensive. We rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws and restrictions on disclosure to protect our intellectual property rights. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, third parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property or seek court declarations that they do not infringe upon our intellectual property rights. Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly, and we cannot assure you that the steps we have taken or will take will prevent misappropriation of our intellectual property. From time to time, we may have to resort to litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources.

As our patents may expire and may not be extended, our patent applications may not be granted and our patent rights may be contested, circumvented, invalidated or limited in scope, our patent rights may not protect us effectively. In particular, we may not be able to prevent others from developing or exploiting competing technologies, which could have a material and adverse effect on our business operations, financial condition and results of operations.

As of December 31, 2020,2022, we had 2,6543,703 issued patents and 1,3972,338 patent applications pending. For our pending application, we cannot assure you that we will be granted patents pursuant to our pending applications. Even if our patent applications succeed and we are issued patents in accordance with them, it is still uncertain whether these patents will be contested, circumvented or invalidated in the future. In addition, the rights granted under any issued patents may not provide us with meaningful protection or competitive advantages. The claims under any patents that issue from our patent applications may not be broad enough to prevent others from developing technologies that are similar or that achieve results similar to ours. The intellectual property rights of others could also bar us from licensing and exploiting any patents that issue from our pending applications. Numerous patents and pending patent applications owned by others exist in the fields in which we have developed and are developing our technology. These patents and patent applications might have priority over our patent applications and could subject our patent applications to invalidation. Finally, in addition to those who may claim priority, any of our existing or pending patents may also be challenged by others on the basis that they are otherwise invalid or unenforceable.

We have limited insurance coverage, which could expose us to significant costs and business disruption.

We have limited liability insurance coverage for our products and business operations. A successful liability claim against us due to injuries suffered by our users could materially and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and reputation. In addition, we do not have any business disruption insurance. Any business disruption event could result in substantial costcosts to us and diversion of our resources.

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We have a significant amount of debt, including our convertible senior notes, that are senior in capital structure and cash flow, respectively, to our shareholders. Satisfying the obligations relating to our debt could adversely affect the amount or timing of distributions to our shareholders or result in dilution.

As of December 31, 2020,2022, we had RMB5,938.3RMB10,885.8 million (US$910.11,578.3 million) in total long-term borrowings outstanding, consisting primarily of (i) our 4.50% convertible senior notes due 2024; (ii) our 0.00% convertible senior notes due 2022 issued in September 2019 to an affiliate of Tencent Holdings Limited;2026 and 0.50% convertible senior notes due 2027 and (iii) our long-term bank debt excluding the current portions of (iii) that are due within one year from December 31, 2020.2022. Meanwhile, as of December 31, 2020,2022, we had RMB1,550.0RMB5,277.1 million (US$237.5765.1 million) in total short-term borrowings. In January 2021, we also issued US$750 million aggregate principal amountborrowings including the current portions of 0.00% convertible senior notes due 2026, or the 2026 Notes, and US$750 million aggregate principal amount of 0.50% convertible senior notes due 2027, or the 2027 Notes.long-term borrowings.

In February 2019, we issued US$750 million aggregate principal amount of 4.50% convertible senior notes due 2024, or the 2024 Notes. The 2024 Notes are unsecured debt and are not redeemable by us prior to the maturity date except for certain changes in tax law. In accordance with the indenture governing the 2024 Notes, or the 2024 Notes Indenture, holders of the 2024 Notes may require us to purchase all or any portion of their notes on February 1, 2022 at a repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 2024 Notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest. Such repurchase right offer expired on January 28, 2022. None of the noteholders exercised their repurchase right, and no Notes were surrendered for repurchase. Holders of the 2024 Notes may also require us, upon a fundamental change (as defined in the 2024 Notes Indenture), to repurchase for cash all or part of their 2024 Notes at a fundamental change repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 2024 Notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest. In connection with the issuance of the 2024 Notes, we entered into capped call transactions and zero-strike call option transactions. Shortly after the pricing of the 2026 Notes and the 2027 Notes in January 2021, we entered into separate and individually privately negotiated agreements with certain holders of the 2024 Notes to exchange approximately US$581.7 million principal amount of the outstanding 2024 Notes for ADSs (each, a "2024“2024 Notes Exchange"Exchange” and collectively, the "2024“2024 Notes Exchanges"Exchanges”). The 2024 Notes Exchanges closed on January 15, 2021. In connection with the 2024 Notes Exchanges, we also entered into agreements with certain financial institutions that are parties to our existing capped call transactions (which we had entered into in February 2019 in connection with the issuance of the 2024 Notes) shortly after the pricing of the 2026 Notes and the 2027 Notes to terminate a portion of the relevant existing capped call transactions in a notional amount corresponding to the portion of the principal amount of such 2024 Notes exchanged. In connection with such terminations of the existing capped call transactions, we received deliveries of ADSs in such amounts as specified pursuant to such termination agreements on January 15, 2021.

In September 2019, each of an affiliate of Tencent Holdings Limited and Mr. Bin Li, our founder, chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer, subscribed for US$100 million principal amount of convertible notes, each in two equally split tranches, collectively the Affiliate Notes. The Affiliate Notes issued in the first tranche matured in 360 days from the issuance date, bore no interest, and required us to pay a premium at 2% of the principal amount at maturity. The Affiliate Notes issued in the second tranche will mature inmatured on the date that was three years from the issuance date, bearbore no interest, and requirerequired us to pay a premium at 6% of the principal amount at maturity. The 360-dayAs of December 31, 2022, all of the Affiliate Notes, are convertibleincluding principal and premium, were converted into our Class A ordinary shares (or ADSs) at a conversion price of US$2.98 per ADS at the holder's option from the 15th day immediately prior to maturity, and the three- year Affiliate Notes are convertible into our Class A ordinary shares (or ADSs) at a conversion price of US$3.12 per ADS at the holder's option from the first anniversary of the issuance date. The holders of the three-year Affiliate Notes will have the right to require us to repurchase for cash all of the convertible notes or any portion thereof on February 1, 2022. As of December 31, 2020, the 360-day Affiliate Notes issued to each of an affiliate of Tencent Holdings Limited and Mr. Bin Li have been converted to Class A ordinary shares and the three-year Affiliate Notes issued to the wholly owned company of Mr. Bin Li have been converted to ADSs.

In February and March 2020, we issued and sold convertible notes in an aggregate principal amount of US$435 million due 2021, or the 2021 Notes, to several unaffiliated Asia based investment funds. The 2021 Notes bore zero interest. The holders of the 2021 Notes issued in February 2020 have the right to convert either all or part of the principal amount of the 2021 Notes into our Class A ordinary shares (or ADSs), prior to maturity and (a) from the date that is six months after the issuance date, at a conversion price of US$3.07 per ADS, or (b) upon the completion of a bona fide issuance of equity securities of our company for fundraising purposes, at the conversion price derived from such equity financing. The holders of the 2021 Notes issued in March 2020 have the right to convert either all or part of the principal amount of the 2021 Notes into our Class A ordinary shares (or ADSs), prior to maturity and from September 5, 2020, at a conversion price of US$3.50 per ADS, subject to certain adjustments. As of December 31, 2020, all of the 2021 Notes havehad been converted to ADSs.

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In January 2021, we issued US$750 million aggregate principal amount of 0.00% convertible senior notes due 2026, or the 2026 Notes, and US$750 million aggregate principal amount of 0.50% convertible senior notes due 2027, or the 2027 Notes. The 2026 Notes and the 2027 Notes are unsecured debt. Prior to August 1, 2025, in the case of the 2026 Notes, and August 1, 2026, in the case of the 2027 Notes, the 2026 Notes and the 2027 Notes, as applicable, will be convertible at the option of the holders only upon satisfaction of certain conditions and during certain periods. Holders may convert their 2026 Notes or 2027 Notes, as applicable, at their option at any time on or after August 1, 2025, in the case of the 2026 Notes, or August 1, 2026, in the case of the 2027 Notes, until the close of business on the second scheduled trading day immediately preceding the relevant maturity date. Upon conversion, we will pay or deliver to such converting holders, as the case may be, cash, ADSs, or a combination of cash and ADSs, at our election. The initial conversion rate of the 2026 Notes is 10.7458 ADSs per US$1,000 principal amount of such 2026 Notes. The initial conversion rate of the 2027 Notes is 10.7458 ADSs per US$1,000 principal amount of such 2027 Notes. The relevant conversion rate for such series of the 2026 Notes and the 2027 Notes is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events. Holders of the 2026 Notes and the 2027 Notes may require us to repurchase all or part of their 2026 Notes and 2027 Notes for cash on February 1, 2024, in the case of the 2026 Notes, and February 1, 2025, in the case of the 2027 Notes, or in the event of certain fundamental changes, at a repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 2026 Notes or the 2027 Notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but excluding, the relevant repurchase date. In addition, on or after February 6, 2024, in the case of the 2026 Notes, and February 6, 2025, in the case of the 2027 Notes, until the 20th20^th scheduled trading day immediately prior to the relevant maturity date, we may redeem the 2026 Notes or the 2027 Notes, as applicable for cash subject to certain conditions, at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 2026 Notes or the 2027 Notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but excluding, the relevant optional redemption date. Furthermore, we may redeem all but not part of the 2026 Notes or the 2027 Notes in the event of certain changes in the tax laws. In 2022, we repurchased an aggregate principal amount of US$192.9 million of 2026 Notes for a total cash consideration of US$170.5 million.

Satisfying the obligations of all these indebtedness and interest liabilities could adversely affect the amount or timing of any distributions to our shareholders. We may choose to satisfy, repurchase, or refinance any of these liabilities through public or private equity or debt financings if we deem such financings available on favorable terms. If we do not have adequate cash available or cannot obtain additional financing, or our use of cash is restricted by applicable law, regulations or agreements governing our current or future indebtedness, we may not be able to repurchase any of these notes when required under the respective transaction documents, which would constitute an event of default under the respective transaction documents. An event of default could also lead to a default under other agreements governing our current and future indebtedness, and if the repayment of such other indebtedness were accelerated, we may not have sufficient funds to repay the indebtedness and repurchase any of these notes or make cash payments upon conversion of any of these notes. In addition, the holders of any of these notes may convert their notes to a number of our ADSs in accordance with the respective transaction documents. Any conversion will result in immediate dilution to the ownership interests of existing shareholders and such dilution could be material. Lastly, we are exposed to interest rate risk related to our portfolio of investments in debt securities and the debt that we have issued. Among other things, some of our bank loans carry floating interest, and increases in interest rates would result in a decrease in the fair value of our outstanding debt. In the event that we incur a decrease in the fair value of our outstanding debt, our financial performance will be adversely affected.

We may seek to obtain future financing through the issuance of debt or equity, which may have an adverse effect on our shareholders or may otherwise adversely affect our business.

If we raise funds through the issuance of additional equity or debt, including convertible debt or debt secured by some or all of our assets, holders of any debt securities or preferred shares issued will have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of holders of our ordinary shares in the event of liquidation. The terms of the convertible notes we issued do not restrict our ability to issue additional debt. If additional debt is issued, there is a possibility that once all senior claims are settled, there may be no assets remaining to pay out to the holders of ordinary shares. In addition, if we raise funds through the issuance of additional equity, whether through private placements or public offerings, such an issuance would dilute ownership of our current shareholders that do not participate in the issuance. If we are unable to obtain any needed additional funding, we may be required to reduce the scope of, delay, or eliminate some or all of, our planned research, development, manufacturing and marketing activities, any of which could materially harm our business.

Furthermore, the terms of any additional debt securities we may issue in the future may impose restrictions on our operations, which may include limiting our ability to incur additional indebtedness, pay dividends on or repurchase our share capital, or make certain acquisitions or investments. In addition, we may be subject to covenants requiring us to satisfy certain financial tests and ratios, and our ability to satisfy such covenants may be affected by events outside of our control.

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In addition, we may acquire additional assets, products, technologies or businesses that are complementary to our existing business. In addition to possible shareholder approval, we may have to obtain approvals and licenses from relevant government authorities for the acquisitions and to comply with any applicable PRC laws and regulations, which could result in increased delay and costs, and may derail our business strategy if we fail to do so. Furthermore, past and future acquisitions and the subsequent integration of new assets and businesses into our own require significant attention from our management and could result in a diversion of resources from our existing business, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our operations. Acquired assets or businesses may not generate the financial results we expect. Acquisitions could result in the use of substantial amounts of cash, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the occurrence of significant goodwill impairment charges, amortization expenses for other intangible assets and exposure to potential unknown liabilities of the acquired business. Moreover, the costs of identifying and consummating acquisitions may be significant.

If we fail to manage our growth effectively, we may not be able to market and sellexecute our vehiclesgrowth strategies successfully.

We have expanded our operations, and as we ramp up our production and sales, further significant expansion willmay be required, especially in connection with potential increased sales, providing our users with high-quality servicing, providing power solutions,service, expansion of our NIO Housesale network and NIO Space networkpower infrastructures, and managing different models of vehicles. Our future operating results depend to a large extent on our ability to manage this expansion and growth successfully. Risks that we face in undertaking this expansion include, among others:

Any failure to manage our growth effectively could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.

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Furthermore, perspectiveprospective candidates and existing employees often consider the value of the equity awards they receive in connection with their employment. Thus, our ability to attract or retain highly skilled employees may be adversely affected by declines in the perceived value of our equity or equity awards. Furthermore, there are no assurances that the number of shares reserved for issuance under our share incentive plans will be sufficient to grant equity awards adequate to recruit new employees and to compensate existing employees.

If we do not appropriately maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, we may be unable to accurately report our financial results and the market price of our ADSs may be adversely affected.

We are subject to reporting obligations under the U.S. securities laws. The SEC, as required under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, adopted rules requiring every public company to include a management report on such company’s internal control over financial reporting in its annual report,document, which contains management’s assessment of the effectiveness of the company’s internal control over financial reporting. We were subject to such requirement starting from the fiscal year of 2019. In addition, an independent registered public accounting firm must attest to and report on the effectiveness of the company’s internal control over financial reporting.

In connection with the preparation and external audit of our consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2019, we and our independent registered public accounting firm identified one material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting and concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was ineffective as of December 31, 2019. The material weakness identified was that we do not have sufficient competent financial reporting and accounting personnel with an appropriate understanding of U.S. GAAP to (i) design and implement formal period-end financial reporting policies and procedures to address complex U.S. GAAP technical accounting issues and (ii) prepare and review our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures in accordance with U.S. GAAP and the financial reporting requirements set forth by the SEC.

Following the identificationWe implemented a number of remedial measures to address the material weakness, we have taken measuresincluding (i) establishing clear roles and responsibilities for accounting and financial reporting staff to remedyaddress accounting and financial reporting issues; (ii) strengthening our financial reporting team by hiring additional personnel with experience in U.S. GAAP and SEC reporting from reputable accounting firms; (iii) further increasing the accounting and SEC reporting acumen and accountability of our finance organization employees through training programs designed to enhance these employees’ competency with respect to U.S. GAAP and SEC reporting; (iv) enhancing our monitoring controls over financial reporting, including additional review by our chief financial officer, financial vice president, and other senior finance staff over the application of U.S. GAAP accounting requirements, the selection and evaluation of U.S. GAAP accounting policies, critical accounting judgments and estimates, reporting and disclosures; (v) establishing related policies and procedures to support the operation of internal controls at the entity level and process level; and (vi) strengthening our internal audit function by hiring additional personnel with industry internal audit experience and experience in compliance with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. As a result, this material weakness. weakness had been remediated as of December 31, 2020.

Our management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2020 after the remediation. For details on these initiatives, please see “Item 15. Controls and Procedures—Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting.”2022. In addition, our independent registered public accounting firm has audited the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, as stated in its report, which appears on page F-2 of this annual report on Form 20-F.2022.

In the future, our management may conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is not effective. Moreover, even if our management concludes that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, our independent registered public accounting firm, after conducting its own independent testing, may issue a report with adverse opinion if it is not satisfied with our internal controls or the level at which our controls are documented, designed, operated or reviewed, or if it interprets the relevant requirements differently from us.

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If our suppliers fail to use ethical business practices and comply with applicable laws and regulations, our brand image could be harmed due to negative publicity.

Our core values, which include developing high quality electric vehicles while operating with integrity, are an important component of our brand image, which makes our reputation sensitive to allegations of unethical business practices. We do not control our independent suppliers or their business practices. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee their compliance with ethical business practices, such as environmental responsibilities, fair wage practices, and compliance with child labor laws, among others. A lack of demonstrated compliance could lead us to seek alternative suppliers, which could increase our costs and result in delayed delivery of our products, product shortages or other disruptions of our operations.

Violation of labor or other laws by our suppliers or the divergence of an independent supplier’s labor or other practices from those generally accepted as ethical in the markets in which we do business could also attract negative publicity for us and our brand. This could diminish the value of our brand image and reduce demand for our electric vehicles if, as a result of such violation, we were to attract negative publicity. If we, or other manufacturersplayers in our industry, encounter similar problems in the future, it could harm our brand image, business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.

If we update our manufacturing equipment more quickly than expected, we may have to shorten the useful lives of any equipment to be retired as a result of any such update, and the resulting acceleration in our depreciation could negatively affect our financial results.

We and JAC have invested and expect to continue to invest significantly in what we believe is state of the art tooling, machinery and other manufacturing equipment for the product lines where the vehicles are manufactured, and we depreciate the cost of such equipment over their expected useful lives. However, manufacturing technology may evolve rapidly, and we or JAC may decide to update our manufacturing process with cutting-edgeadvanced equipment more quickly than expected. Moreover, as our engineering and manufacturing expertise and efficiency increase, we or JAC may be able to manufacture our products using less of our installed equipment. The useful life of any equipment that would be retired early as a result would be shortened, causing the depreciation on such equipment to be accelerated, and to the extent we own such equipment, our results of operations could be negatively impacted. Furthermore, under the renewal joint manufacturing arrangement we entered into with JAC and Jianglai in May 2021 and under the manufacturing cooperation agreement we entered into with JAC in September 2022, we agreed to pay JAC the asset depreciation and amortization with regard to the assets JAC invested and to invest for the manufacture of our vehicle models as actually incurred, payable monthly and annually, respectively, and subject to adjustment annually. An increased amount of investment made by JAC into the manufacturing plants will lead to an increased cost in asset depreciation and amortization, which could negatively affect our results of operations and financial conditions.

The construction and operation of our manufacturing facilities are subject to regulatory approvals or filings and may be subject to changes, delays, cost overruns or may not produce expected benefits.

In 2017, we signed a framework agreement with the Shanghai Jiading government and its authorized investment entity to build and develop our own manufacturing facility in Jiading, Shanghai. In 2019, we agreed with the related contractual parties to cease construction of this planned manufacturing facility and terminate this development project, due to government policies that allow collaborative manufacturing between traditional automotive manufacturers and companies with a focus on research, development and design of new energy vehicles.project.

In February 2020, we entered into a collaboration framework agreement with the municipal government of Hefei, Anhui province, where our main manufacturing hub is located.province. Subsequently from April to June 2020, we entered into definitive agreements, as amended and supplemented, for investments in NIO China. Pursuant to the definitive agreements, we will collaborate with the Hefei Strategic Investors and HETA to develop NIO China’s business and to support the accelerated development of the smart electric vehicle sectors in Hefei in the future. In February 2021, we, through NIO China, entered into a further collaboration framework agreement with the municipal government of Hefei, Anhui province, pursuant to which the Hefei government and NIO China agreed in principle to jointly build a world-class industrial campus to support the development and innovations of the smart electric vehicle industry and related supply chains led by NIO China. In addition, the Hefei government and its associated parties plan to re-invest their returns from the equity investments in NIO China to support the further cooperation in Hefei.

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Under PRC law, construction projects are subject to broad and strict government supervision and approval procedures, including but not limited to project approvals and filings, construction land and project planning approvals, environment protection approvals, pollution discharge permits, work safety approvals, fire protection approvals, and the completion of inspection and acceptance by relevant authorities. Some of the construction projects being carried out by us are undergoing necessary approval procedures as required by law. As a result, the relevant entities operating such construction projects may be subject to administrative uncertainty, and construction projects in question may be subject to fines or the suspension of use of such projects. Failure to complete the construction projects on schedule and within budget, and failure to obtain necessary approvals or any incompliance with relevant government supervision could have a material adverse impact on our operations, and we may not be able to find commercially reasonable alternatives.

Our vehicles make use of lithium-ion battery cells, which have been observed to catch fire or vent smoke and flame.

The battery packsbatteries that we produce make use of lithium-ion cells. On rare occasions, lithium-ion cells can rapidly release the energy they contain by venting smoke and flames in a manner that can ignite nearby materials as well as other lithium-ion cells. In June 2019, certain safety incidents resulting from the battery packsbatteries on ES8 vehicles occurred in Shanghai and other locations in China. We then voluntarily recalled 4,803 ES8s, and replaced the batteries in the NIO battery swap network equipped with the malfunctioned modules. While we have designed the battery pack to passively contain any single cell’s release of energy without spreading to neighboring cells, and have taken measures to enhance the safety of our battery designs, a field or testing failure of our vehicles or other battery packsbatteries that we produce could occur in the future, which could subject us to lawsuits, product recalls, or redesign efforts, all of which would be time-consuming and expensive. Also, negative public perceptions regarding the suitability of lithium-ion cells for automotive applications or any future incident involving lithium-ion cells such as a vehicle or other fire, even if such incident does not involve our vehicles, could seriously harm our business.

In addition, we store a significant number of lithium-ion cells at our facilities. Any mishandling of battery cells may cause disruption to the operation of our facilities. While we have implemented safety procedures related to the handling of the cells, a safety issue or fire related to the cells could disrupt our operations. Such damage or injury could lead to adverse publicity and potentially a safety recall. Moreover, any failure of a competitor’s electric vehicle or energy storage product may cause indirect adverse publicity for us and our products. Such adverse publicity could negatively affect our brand and harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Interruption or failure of our information technology and communications systems could impact our ability to effectively provide our services.

We aim to provide our users with an innovative suite of services through our mobile application. In addition, our in-car services depend, to a certain extent, on connectivity. The availability and effectiveness of our services depend on the continued operation of our information technology and communications systems. Our systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption from, among other adverse effects, fire, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, computer denial of service attacks or other attempts to harm our systems. Our data centers are also subject to break-ins, sabotage, and intentional acts of vandalism, and to potential disruptions. Some of our systems are not fully redundant, and our disaster recovery planning cannot account for all eventualities. Any problems at our data centers could result in lengthy interruptions in our service. In addition, our products and services are highly technical and complex and may contain errors or vulnerabilities, which could result in interruptions in our services or the failure of our systems.

We are subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, financial and economic sanctions and similar laws, and non-compliance with such laws can subject us to administrative, civil and criminal fines and penalties, collateral consequences, remedial measures and legal expenses, all of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation.

We are subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, financial and economic sanctions and similar laws and regulations in various jurisdictions in which we conduct activities, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, and other anti-corruption laws and regulations. The FCPA and the U.K. Bribery Act 2010 prohibit us and our officers, directors, employees and business partners acting on our behalf, including agents, from corruptly offering, promising, authorizing or providing anything of value to a “foreign official” for the purposes of influencing official decisions or obtaining or retaining business or otherwise obtaining favorable treatment. The FCPA also requires companies to make and keep books, records and accounts that accurately reflect transactions and dispositions of assets and to maintain a system of adequate internal accounting controls. The U.K. Bribery Act also prohibits non-governmental “commercial” bribery and soliciting or accepting bribes. A violation of these laws or regulations could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation.

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We have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies and state-owned affiliated entities in the ordinary course of business. We have also entered into joint ventures and/or other business partnerships with government agencies and state-owned or affiliated entities. These interactions subject us to an increased level of compliance-related concerns. We are in the process of implementing policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance by us and our directors, officers, employees, representatives, consultants, agents and business partners with applicable anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, financial and economic sanctions and similar laws and regulations. However, our policies and procedures may not be sufficient and our directors, officers, employees, representatives, consultants, agents, and business partners could engage in improper conduct for which we may be held responsible.

Non-compliance with anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering or financial and economic sanctions laws could subject us to whistleblower complaints, adverse media coverage, investigations, and severe administrative, civil and criminal sanctions, collateral consequences, remedial measures and legal expenses, all of which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation. In addition, changes in economic sanctions laws in the future could adversely impact our business and investments in our shares.

Any unauthorized control or manipulation of our vehicles’ systems could result in loss of confidence in us and our vehicles and harm our business.

Our vehicles contain complex information technology systems. For example, our vehicles are designed with built-in data connectivity to accept and install periodic remote updates from us to improve or update the functionality of our vehicles. We have designed, implemented and tested security measures intended to prevent unauthorized access to our information technology networks, our vehicles and their systems. However, hackers may attempt in the future, to gain unauthorized access to modify, alter and use such networks, vehicles and systems to gain control of, or to change, our vehicles’ functionality, user interface and performance characteristics, or to gain access to data stored in or generated by the vehicle. Vulnerabilities could be identified in the future and our remediation efforts may not be successful. Any unauthorized access to or control of our vehicles or their systems or any loss of data could result in legal claims or proceedings. In addition, regardless of their veracity, reports of unauthorized access to our vehicles, their systems or data, as well as other factors that may result in the perception that our vehicles, their systems or data are capable of being “hacked,” could negatively affect our brand and harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We face risks related to natural disasters, health epidemics and other outbreaks, which could significantly disrupt our operations.

Our business could be adversely affected by the effects of epidemics. In recent years, there have been outbreaks of epidemics in China and globally. In recent years, there have been outbreaks of epidemics in China and globally. Our business operations could be disrupted if any of our employees are suspected of having epidemics, since it could require our employees to be quarantined and/or our offices to be disinfected. In addition, our results of operations could be adversely affected to the extent that the outbreak harms the Chinese economy in general.

We are also vulnerable to natural disasters and other calamities. Our vehicle production, sales and delivery and our service operations and capacities could be materially and adversely affected by natural disasters and other calamities in the areas where we operate and where our vehicles are sold to. For example, in July 2021, our deliveries of vehicles and power services were interrupted due to the flood in Henan province and the typhoon in Shanghai and several other neighboring cities. Although we have servers that are hosted in an offsite location, our backup system does not capture data on a real-time basis and we may be unable to recover certain data in the event of a server failure. We cannot assure you that any backup systems will be adequate to protect us from the effects of fire, floods, typhoons, earthquakes, power loss, telecommunications failures, break-ins, war, riots, terrorist attacks or similar events. Any of the foregoing events may give rise to interruptions, breakdowns, system failures, technology platform failures or internet failures, which could cause the loss or corruption of data or malfunctions of software or hardware as well as adversely affect our ability to provide services on our platform.

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Our revenues and financial results may be adversely affected by any economic slowdown in China as well as globally.

The success of our business ultimately depends on consumer spending. We derive substantially alla substantial majority of our revenues from China. As a result, our revenues and financial results are impacted to a significant extent by economic conditions in China and globally. The global macroeconomic environment is facing numerous challenges.China. The growth rate of the Chinese economy has gradually slowed down since 2010 and the trend may continue. Any slowdown could significantly reduce domestic commerce in China, including through the internet generally and through us.China. In addition, as we continue to expand our global presence and offer products and services to markets outside China, we expect our results of operations will also be impacted by the global economic conditions. The global macroeconomic environment is facing numerous challenges. For example, there is considerable uncertainty over the long-term effects of the previous expansionary monetary and fiscal policies adopted by the central banks and financial authorities of some of the world’s leading economies, including the United States and China. Unrest,China, and the ongoing transmission of monetary policy in the United States and Europe. The conflicts in Ukraine and the imposition of broad economic sanctions on Russia, while have not had a direct impact on our business operations and financial results to date, could raise energy prices, cause supply chain volatilities and disrupt global markets in general, and may negatively affect our business expansion in Europe and other international markets, which may adversely affect our results of operations and financial results. Regional unrest, terrorist threats and the potential for war in the Middle East and elsewhere may increase market volatility across the globe. There have also been concerns about the relationship between China and other countries, including the surrounding Asian countries, which may potentially have economic effects. In particular, there is significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the United States and China with respect to trade policies, treaties, government regulations and tariffs. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the economies of China, the United States and numerous other countries around the world, and is expected to result in a severe global recession. Economic conditions in China are sensitive to global economic conditions, as well as changes in domestic economic and political policies and the expected or perceived overall economic growth rate in China. Any severe or prolonged slowdown in the global or Chinese economy may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Sales of high-end and luxury consumer products, such as our performance electric vehicles, depend in part on discretionary consumer spending and are even more exposed to adverse changes in general economic conditions. In response to their perceived uncertainty in economic conditions, consumers might delay, reduce or cancel purchases of our electric vehicles and our results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We cannot predict the duration or direction of current trends or their impact on China and globally. If we experience unfavorable global market conditions, or if we cannot or do not maintain operations at a scope that is commensurate with such conditions or are later required to or choose to suspend such operations again, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results may be harmed.

Shutdowns of the U.S. federal government could materially impair our business and financial condition.

Development of our product candidates and/or regulatory approval may be delayed for reasons beyond our control. For example, over the last several years the U.S. government has shut down several times and certain regulatory agencies, such as the SEC, have had to furlough critical SEC and other government employees and stop critical activities. In our operations as a public company, future government shutdowns could impact our ability to access the public markets, such as through delaying the declaration of effectiveness of registration statements and obtainobtaining necessary capital in order to properly capitalize and continue our operations.

Rising international political tension, including changes in U.S. and international trade policies, particularly with regard to China, may adversely impact our business and operating results.

The U.S. government has made statements and taken certain actions that may lead to potential changes to U.S. and international trade policies towards China. In January 2020, the “Phase One” agreement was signed between the United States and China on trade matters. However, it remains unclear what additional actions, if any, will be taken by the U.S. or other governments with respect to international trade agreements, the imposition of tariffs on goods imported into the U.S., tax policy related to international commerce, or other trade matters. While cross-border business may not currently be an area of our focus, any unfavorable government policies on international trade, such as capital controls or tariffs, may affect the demand for our products and services, impact the competitive position of our products or prevent us from selling products in certain countries. Moreover, many of the recent policy updates in the U.S., including the Clean Network project initiated by the U.S. Department of State in August 2020 and the Entity List regime maintained and regularly updated by the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security, may have unforeseen implications for our business. If any new tariffs, legislation and/or regulations are implemented, or if existing trade agreements are renegotiated or, in particular, if the U.S. government takes retaliatory trade actions due to the recent U.S.-China trade tension, such changes could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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Additionally, the United States and various foreign governments have imposed controls, export license requirements and restrictions on the import or export of technologies and products (or voiced the intention to do so), especially related to semiconductor chips, AI and other high-tech areas, which may have a negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For instance, India has banned a large number of apps in 2020 out of national security concerns, many of which are China-based apps, escalating regional political and trade tensions.

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Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

If the PRC government deems that our contractual arrangements with our variable interest entitythe VIEs do not comply with PRC regulatory restrictions on foreign investment in the relevant industries, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations.

Foreign ownership of certain areas of businesses is subject to restrictions and prohibitions under current PRC laws and regulations. For example, pursuant to the 2021 Negative List, foreign investors are not allowed to, among others, (i) own more than 50% of the equity interests in a value-added telecommunication service provider (except e-commerce) or(other than for e-commerce, domestic multi-parties communications, storage and forwarding categories, call centers); and (ii) invest in a vehicle manufacturer which manufactures the whole vehicle pursuantcertain services related to autonomous driving. Additionally, in practice, subject to the 2020 Negative List.qualifications set by the CBIRC for foreign shareholders of the insurance brokerage companies, the CBIRC typically would not approve the establishment of foreign-invested insurance brokerage companies.

We are a Cayman Islands exempted company and our PRC subsidiaries are considered foreign-invested enterprises. To comply with the applicable PRC laws and regulations,Accordingly, we had planned to conduct certain operations that were then subject to restrictions on foreign investment in China through Shanghai NIO Energy Automobile Co., Ltd., or NIO New Energy. NIO Co., Ltd. owns 50% equity interests in NIO New Energy. Our founders Bin Li and Lihong Qin, through holding equity interests in Shanghai Anbin Technology Co., Ltd. indirectly own 40% and 10%, respectively, of the equity interests in NIO New Energy. With respect to the 50% equity interests of NIO New Energy indirectly held by the founders, we had entered into a series of contractual arrangements with Shanghai Anbin Technology Co., Ltd., or Shanghai Anbin, and its shareholders, which enabled us to (i) ultimately exercise effective control over such 50% equity interests of NIO New Energy, (ii) receive 50% of substantially all of the economic benefits and bear the obligation to absorb 50% of substantially all of the losses of NIO New Energy, and (iii) have an exclusive option to purchase all or part of the equity interests in Shanghai Anbin when and to the extent permitted by PRC laws, as a result of which we indirectly owned all or part of such 50% equity interests in NIO New Energy. Because of the ownership of 50% equity interests of NIO New Energy and these contractual arrangements, we were the primary beneficiary of NIO New Energy and hence consolidated its financial results as our variable interest entity under U.S. GAAP. On March 31, 2021, NIO Co., Ltd., or NIO WFOE, and Shanghai Anbin Technology Co., Ltd., or Shanghai Anbin, and each shareholder of Shanghai Anbin entered into a termination agreement pursuant to which each of the contractual agreements among NIO WFOE, Shanghai Anbin and its shareholders terminated as of the date of the agreement. In addition, we have also entered into a series of contractual arrangements with Beijing NIO, Network Technology Co., Ltd., or BeijingAnhui NIO AT, Anhui NIO DT and itstheir respective shareholders that enable us to hold or to apply for all the required Internet content provision service, orlicenses in China, including, among others, the ICP license, the insurance brokerage license and certain licenses relating to the operation of certain services related licenses in China.to autonomous driving. For a detailed description of these contractual arrangements, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Organizational Structure—Contractual Agreements with the VIEVIEs and ItsTheir Shareholders.”

In the opinion of Han Kun Law Offices, our PRC legal counsel, (i) the ownership structures of NIO Co., Ltd. and our variable interest entityBeijing NIO, the ownership structure of Anhui NIO AD and Anhui NIO AT, and the ownership structure of NIO China and Anhui NIO DT, in China do not result in any violation of PRC laws and regulations currently in effect; and (ii) the contractual arrangements between our wholly-owned subsidiary NIO Co., Ltd., our variable interest entitysubsidiaries, the VIEs and itstheir shareholders governed by PRC laws will not result in any violation of PRC laws or regulations currently in effect. However, we have been advised by our PRC legal counsel that there are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current and future PRC laws, regulations and rules, and there can be no assurance that the PRC regulatory authorities will take a view that is consistent with the opinion of our PRC legal counsel. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations— Regulations on Foreign Investment in China” and “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Our business may be significantly affected by the newly enacted Foreign Investment Law.” It is uncertain whether any new PRC laws or regulations relating to variable interest entityVIE structures will be adopted or, if adopted, what they would provide.

If the ownership structure, contractual arrangements and businesses of our PRC subsidiaries or our variable interest entitythe VIEs are found to be in violation of any existing or future PRC laws or regulations, or our PRC subsidiaries or our variable interest entitythe VIEs fail to obtain or maintain any of the required permits or approvals, the relevant PRC regulatory authorities would have broad discretion to take action in dealing with such violations or failures, including:

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Any of these actions could cause significant disruption to our business operations and severely damage our reputation, which would in turn materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. If any of these occurrences results in our inability to direct the activities of our variable interest entitythe VIEs that most significantly impact their economic performance, and/or our failure to receive the economic benefits from our variable interest entity,the VIEs, we may not be able to consolidate the entities in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Currently, Beijing NIO, Anhui NIO AT, and Anhui NIO DT, taking into account all of their respective business with or without foreign investment restrictions under PRC laws, did not contribute any external revenue to our total revenues in 2020, 2021 and 2022. As of December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022, the consolidated VIEs did not have significant operations or any material assets or liabilities.

We rely on contractual arrangements with our variablethe VIEs and their shareholders to hold a controlling financial interest entityas the primary beneficiary over each VIE and its shareholders to exercise control over ourrelated business, which may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing operational control.

We have relied on contractual arrangements with Shanghai Anbin and its shareholders to conduct a portion of our operations in China. On March 31, 2021, the contractual agreements with Shanghai Anbin and its shareholders were terminated. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Organizational Structure—Contractual Agreements with the VIE and Its Shareholders” for more information. We have relied and expect to continue to rely on contractual arrangements with Beijing NIO, Anhui NIO AT, Anhui NIO DT and itstheir shareholders to conduct a portion of our operations in China. For a description of these contractual arrangements, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Organizational Structure—Contractual Agreements with the VIEVIEs and ItsTheir Shareholders.” The shareholders of Beijing NIOVIEs may not act in the best interests of our company or may not perform their obligations under these contracts. If we had direct ownership of our variable interest entity, or VIE,the VIEs, we would be able to exercise our rights as a shareholder to control our VIEthe VIEs to exercise rights of shareholders to effect changes in the board of directors of our VIE,the VIEs, which in turn could implement changes, subject to any applicable fiduciary obligations, at the management and operational level. However, under the contractual arrangements, we would rely on legal remedies under PRC law for breach of contract in the event that Beijing NIOthe VIEs and itstheir shareholders did not perform their obligations under the contracts. These legal remedies may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over Beijing NIO.the VIEs.

If Beijing NIOthe VIEs or itstheir shareholders fail to perform their obligations under the contractual arrangements, we may have to incur substantial costs and expend additional resources to enforce such arrangements, and rely on legal remedies under PRC laws, including contractual remedies, which may not be sufficient or effective. All of the agreements under our contractual arrangements are governed by and interpreted in accordance with PRC laws, and disputes arising from these contractual arrangements will be resolved through arbitration in China. However, the legal framework and system in China, in particularly those relating to arbitration proceedings, are not as developed as in some other jurisdictions, such as the United States. As a result, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. Meanwhile, there are very few precedents and little formal guidance as to how contractual arrangements in the context of a variable interest entityVIE should be interpreted or enforced under PRC law. There remain significant uncertainties regarding the ultimate outcome of such arbitration should legal action become necessary. In addition, under PRC laws, rulings by arbitrators are final, parties cannot appeal the arbitration results in courts, and if the losing parties fail to carry out the arbitration awards within a prescribed time limit, the prevailing parties may only enforce the arbitration awards in the PRC courts through arbitration award recognition proceedings, which would require additional expenses and delay. If we are unable to enforce these contractual arrangements, or if we suffer significant delay or face other obstacles in the process of enforcing these contractual arrangements, we may not be able to exert effective control over our variable interest entity,the VIEs, and our ability to conduct our business may be negatively affected. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks“Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws and regulations could limit the legal protections available to you and us.”

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The equity interest pledge agreements with our variable interest entity’sthe VIEs’ shareholders provide that the pledged equity interests shall constitute continuing security for any and all of the indebtedness, obligations and liabilities under all of the principal service agreements and the scope of pledge shall not be limited by the amount of the registered capital of that variable interest entity.VIE. However, a PRC court may take the position that the amount listed on the equity pledge registration forms represents the full amount of the collateral that has been registered and perfected. If this is the case, the obligations that are supposed to be secured in the equity interest pledge agreements in excess of the amount listed on the equity pledge registration forms could be determined by the PRC court as unsecured debt, which typically takes last priority among creditors.

The shareholders of our variable interest entity maythe VIEs have potential conflicts of interest with us, which may materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition.

Our founders, Bin Li and Lihong Qin, own 80% and 20%, respectively, of the equity interests in our variable interest entities, Shanghai AnbinBeijing NIO and Beijing NIO. On March 31, 2021,Anhui NIO DT, and own 80% and 2.24%, respectively of the contractual agreements with Shanghai Anbin and its shareholders were terminated.equity interests in Anhui NIO AT. Shaoqing Ren, an assistant vice president, owns 17.76% of the equity interests in Anhui NIO AT. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Organizational Structure—Contractual Agreements with the VIEVIEs and ItsTheir Shareholders” for more information. As shareholders of Beijing NIO,the VIEs, they may have potential conflicts of interest with us. These shareholders may breach, or cause our variable interest entitythe VIEs to breach, or refuse to renew, the existing contractual arrangements we have with them and our variable interest entity,the VIEs, which would have a material and adverse effect on our ability to effectively control our variable interest entitythe VIEs and receive economic benefits from it. For example, the shareholders may be able to cause our agreements with Beijing NIOthe VIEs to be performed in a manner adverse to us by, among other things, failing to remit payments due under the contractual arrangements to us on a timely basis. We cannot assure you that when conflicts of interest arise, any or all of these shareholders will act in the best interests of our company or such conflicts will be resolved in our favor.

Currently, we do not have any arrangements to address potential conflicts of interest between these shareholders and our company. Each of Bin Li and Lihong Qin is also a director and executive officer of our company, and Shaoqing Ren is an assistant vice president of our company. We rely on Bin Li, and Lihong Qin and Shaoqing Ren to abide by the laws of the Cayman Islands and China, which provide that directors and senior management owe a fiduciary duty to the company that requires them to act in good faith and in what they believe to be the best interests of the company and not to use their position for personal gain. There is currently no specific and clear guidance under PRC laws that addresses any conflict between PRC laws and the laws of Cayman Islands in respect of any conflict relating to corporate governance. If we cannot resolve any conflict of interest or dispute between us and the shareholders of Beijing NIO,VIEs, we would have to rely on legal proceedings, which could result in disruption of our business and subject us to substantial uncertainty as to the outcome of any such legal proceedings.

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We may lose the ability to use and benefit from assets held by our variable interest entitythe VIEs that are material to the operation of our business if our variable interest entity goesthe VIEs go bankrupt or becomes subject to dissolution or liquidation proceedings.

As part of our contractual arrangements with our variable interest entity, the entityVIEs, the entities may in the future hold certain assets that are material to the operation of our business. If our variable interest entityany VIE goes bankrupt and all or part of its assets become subject to liens or rights of third-party creditors, we may be unable to continue some or all of our business activities, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Under the contractual arrangements, our variable interest entitythe VIEs may not, in any manner, sell, transfer, mortgage or dispose of their assets or legal or beneficial interests in the business without our prior consent. If our variable interest entityany VIE undergoes voluntary or involuntary liquidation proceedings, unrelated third-party creditors may claim rights to some or all of these assets, thereby hindering our ability to operate our business, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Divestitures of businesses and assets may have a material and adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

We may undertake in the future, partial or complete divestitures or other disposal transactions in connection with certain of our businesses and assets, particularly ones that are not closely related to our core focus areas or might require excessive resources or financial capital, to help our company meet its objectives. These decisions are largely based on our management’s assessment of the business models and likelihood of success of these businesses. However, our judgment could be inaccurate, and we may not achieve the desired strategic and financial benefits from these transactions. Our financial results could be adversely affected by the impact from the loss of earnings and corporate overhead contribution/allocation associated with divested businesses.

Dispositions may also involve continued financial involvement in the divested business, such as through guarantees, indemnities or other financial obligations. Under these arrangements, performance by the divested businesses or other conditions outside of our control could affect our future financial results. We may also be exposed to negative publicity as a result of the potential misconception that the divested business is still part of our consolidated group. On the other hand, we cannot assure you that the divesting business would not pursue opportunities to provide services to our competitors or other opportunities that would conflict with our interests. If any conflicts of interest that may arise between the divesting business and us cannot be resolved in our favor, our business, financial condition, results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Furthermore, reducing or eliminating our ownership interests in these businesses might negatively affect our operations, prospects, or long-term value. We may lose access to resources or know-how that would have been useful in the development of our own business. Our ability to diversify or expand our existing businesses or to move into new areas of business may be reduced, and we may have to modify our business strategy to focus more exclusively on areas of business where we already possess the necessary expertise. We may sell our interests too early, and thus forego gains that we otherwise would have received had we not sold. Selecting businesses to dispose of or spin off, finding buyers for them (or the equity interests in them to be sold) and negotiating prices for what may be relatively illiquid ownership interests with no easily ascertainable fair market value will also require significant attention from our management and may divert resources from our existing business, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our business operations.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has granted us a waiver from strict compliance with the requirements in Paragraph 3(b) of Practice Note 15 to the Hong Kong Listing Rules such that we are able to list a subsidiary entity on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange within three years of the listing of our Class A ordinary shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. While we currently do not have any plan with respect to any spin-off listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, we may consider a spin-off listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for one or more of our businesses within the three-year period subsequent to our listing in Hong Kong. The waiver granted by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is conditional upon us confirming to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in advance of any spin-off that it would not render our Company incapable of fulfilling the eligibility requirements under Rule 19C.05 of the Hong Kong Listing Rules based on the financial information of the entity or entities to be spun-off at the time of the listing of our Class A ordinary shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (calculated cumulatively if more than one entity is spun-off).

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Risks Related to Doing Business in China

Our ADSs may be delisted under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act if theThe PCAOB ishad historically been unable to inspect auditors who are locatedour auditor in China. The delisting ofrelation to their audit work performed for our ADSs, or the threat of their being delisted, may materiallyfinancial statements and adversely affect the value of your investment. Additionally, the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections deprivesof our auditor in the past has deprived our investors with the benefits of such inspections.

The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCA Act, was enacted on December 18, 2020. The HFCA Act states if the SEC determines that we have filed audit reports issued by a registered public accounting firm that has not been subject to inspection by the PCAOB for three consecutive years beginning in 2021, the SEC shall prohibit our shares or ADSs from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the “over-the-counter” trading market in the U.S.

Our auditor, the independent registered public accounting firm that issues the audit report included elsewhere in this annual report, as an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the PCAOB, is subject to laws in the United States pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess its compliance with the applicable professional standards. Since ourThe auditor is located in mainland China, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB has beenwas historically unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the Chinese authorities, our auditor is currently not inspected by the PCAOB.