Beijing Chaoweijing Biotechnology: Chery takes 10% stake in Nio energy unit
What's the deal? CheryDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has acquired a 10% stake in Weiju TechnologyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Nio-controlled energy unit, paying 72.5 million yuan ($10.8 million), according to Chinese corporate records. Separately, fresh road-test images pointed to a possible next-generation ET5 Touring wagon.
Why now? Nio's US-listed shares rose over 1% overnight heading into Thursday, on track to snap a two-week losing streak. The move followed the CheryDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → investment and the second reported sighting this month of a heavily camouflaged Nio wagon testing on a public road.
What's the endgame? A new wagon could debut at Nio Day in Wuhan in December 2026, where the company traditionally unveils major products. Nio has not confirmed the vehicle's identity or launch date, though it acknowledged in May 2026 that another wagon was planned.
What could go wrong? The ET5 Touring's momentum has faded sharply. Deliveries fell 64.7% year-over-year to 1,561 units in July 2026, while sales over the first seven months of 2026 dropped 47.2% to 13,695 units, according to CPCA data compiled by CnEVPostDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
The wagon supplied just 4.3% of Nio's July 2026 deliveries, down from about 25% two years earlier. The current model starts at 298,000 yuan ($44,000) including the battery, and 190,000 yuan under Nio's battery-rental plan.
The details: After the Chery subscription, Nio retained control of Weiju with a 50.0156% interest as the unit's registered capital nearly doubled to 725 million yuan. Weiju focuses on emerging-energy and new-material technologies but reported no employees in 2025, suggesting it mainly functions as an investment vehicle. It also owns a stake in Fusion New EnergyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the state-backed developer of Hefei's BEST compact fusion-energy experiment.
The signal: One blogger called the prototype a possible third-generation model and declared that "the wagon king is really coming." For Nio, reviving a fading model and drawing outside capital into its energy ventures both point to the pressure on Chinese EV makers to broaden beyond core sales.
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
Read more: Yahoo Finance
