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Chinese electric car startup Nio aspires to be the Tesla of China. To achieve that, its founder and CEO William Li wants his customers to feel like they're part of an exclusive club.
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To begin with, Nio offers its customers the Nio app. In addition to providing practical assistance to Nio drivers, such as dispatching a mobile charging station to revive a dead battery, the app also connects customers to an entire social network of other Nio owners.Li has also built a handful of private social clubs called Nio Houses. Located in large Chinese cities, Nio Houses feature a car showroom on the first floor and a private clubhouse on the second floor, which is only open to Nio car owners. Nio Houses offer numerous perks, including courses on topics like flower arranging and espresso making, and private rooms where Nio owners can hold business meetings.
The age-old advertising strategy of "Keeping up with the Wangs."
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Monday February 25 2019, @06:56PM (6 children)
The somewhat present car culture is completely outweighed by public transit infrastructure that gets from any population center to any other cheaply and efficiently.
The fact that you're always* a short walk to a bus stop, and a short bus trip to a train station, and extremely fast train ride to another city means the few, rich people who do own cars, do so as a luxury, not a need. Vehicle pricing doesn't need to be on the market floor and sustainability is easy.
*okay, okay, not if you're the third of the population who is rural, dirt poor, and ignored by the government entirely
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 25 2019, @07:07PM (1 child)
You seem to be an expert; do other cultural comparisons with the West hold true:
Big Wang Little Car
Little Wang Big Car
Or do they all drive big cars?
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday February 25 2019, @08:06PM
In China, it's definitely still in the ramp-up phase : Big Wallet Big Car.
Pretty typical really : first/second generations with disposable income spending an outsized amount of it on the status symbol.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday February 25 2019, @07:14PM
They wish. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-34592186 [bbc.com]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 25 2019, @07:42PM
If you are a China expat, guess it has been a while since you last visited
https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1002522/odds-of-getting-a-beijing-license-plate-are-now-1-in-2%2C031 [sixthtone.com]
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 25 2019, @08:35PM (1 child)
Right, because there is no other use for cars than to transfer people around, and only to places where there's already trains and busses going.
Or perhaps you are just another ignorant fool.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Monday February 25 2019, @10:01PM
In your attempt to be sarcastic and dismissive you accidentally forgot to elucidate us on any actual particular thing I've overlooked.