NIO’s plant in the US may initially adopt a CKD (Completely Knocked Down) or SKD (Semi Knocked Down) form of production, local media said, citing an industry source.
NIO (NYSE: NIO, HKG: 9866, SGX: NIO) is hiring for positions related to building vehicles in the US, suggesting the company intends to build a new plant in the US, local media outlet Yicai reported today.
The Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker said in response to a request for comment that it had no disclosable information about building a factory in the US, the report noted.
NIO is hiring for positions including overseas manufacturing campus planning specialists, body process specialists for overseas projects, overseas planning and infrastructure specialists, and overseas logistics project managers.
NIO’s job description for the overseas manufacturing campus planning specialists requires candidates to have been responsible for two or more complete master plan projects with at least one US project master plan experience.
Candidates for this position also need to be familiar with and understand US state policies, design codes and planning submission processes, and be familiar with US process planning and master plan planning principles.
“NIO is supposed to have the intention of building a plant in the US. The position requires knowledge of US state policies and subsequent involvement in plant site selection in the US,” Yicai quoted a person who has been involved in plant construction for Chinese car companies on several occasions as saying.
NIO currently has a self-driving R&D center in San Jose, California, as well as a software development team.
NIO is also hiring planning and infrastructure specialists in San Jose, and requirements for the position include candidates with knowledge of regulatory processes in the industrial real estate industry.
Considering NIO’s job descriptions for overseas logistics project manager and overseas project body process specialist, NIO’s US plant may initially operate on a CKD (Completely Knocked Down) or SKD (Semi Knocked Down) basis, the person said.
NIO’s vehicles are currently produced at the JAC-NIO advanced manufacturing base in Hefei, Anhui province, and the company’s second plant in NeoPark is under construction.
NIO has already entered the Norwegian market in 2021, the first stop in its international expansion.
At the NIO Day 2021 event on December 18, William Li, founder, chairman and CEO of NIO, said the company will enter Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark in 2022.
NIO’s goal is to serve users in more than 25 countries and regions worldwide by 2025, Li said.
Li did not announce at the time which of those 25 countries would be included, though local media later reported that it would include core global automotive markets including the US, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
This article was first published by Phate Zhang on CnEVPost, a website focusing on new energy vehicle news from China.
