SHANGHAI — Chinese language electrical automotive firm Nio will maintain its costs excessive quite than reduce them, CEO William Li instructed CNBC in an interview.

“For us, we will definitely not be a part of the value battle,” Li mentioned, claiming Nio’s services are well worth the value. That is in accordance with a CNBC translation of his Mandarin-language remarks.

Tesla, Elon Musk’s automotive firm, this yr slashed costs within the U.S. and China. Nio additionally sells automobiles within the premium section of the market, however its SUVs and sedans could be far dearer than Tesla’s fashions.

Li mentioned his firm will concentrate on enhancing its buyer providers — reminiscent of including battery swapping and charging stations. The swapping expertise claims to vary out batteries in minutes in order that drivers haven’t got to attend for charging.

Nio introduced final week that beginning June 1, individuals who put down deposits for a few of its automotive fashions will solely get to make use of the corporate’s battery swapping service free of charge 4 instances a month. That is down from as many as six free swaps a month beforehand.

The corporate additionally mentioned final week it could begin charging drivers 380 yuan ($56) a month to make use of its assisted driving system, referred to as Navigate on Pilot (NOP) plus. The software program has been free to check.

Providing expertise to help drivers with parking, freeway lane modifications and different duties has more and more develop into a promoting level for electrical automotive corporations in China.

Such assisted driving expertise proper now might solely rank ninth or tenth amongst customers’ wants, in accordance with Li, who can also be Nio’s founder and chairman. He mentioned folks’s evaluation of the tech will change as soon as they struggle it, and that he expects assisted driving to develop into a typical automotive function.

Nio’s car gross sales grew by 37% final yr to 45.51 billion yuan ($6.61 billion), with the corporate total nonetheless working at a loss.

Its income comes primarily from China, the place authorities insurance policies have helped speed up progress in electrical automotive gross sales. New power autos — which incorporates hybrid and pure electrical — noticed penetration of passenger automotive gross sales attain 34% in March, in accordance with the China Passenger Automotive Affiliation.

That is sooner than Nio anticipated, Li mentioned.

“There are a lot of new merchandise coming to market, which in fact means fiercer competitors for us,” he mentioned. “However for customers, they’ve a extra ample choice.”

Within the first quarter, 1.3 million new power passenger automobiles have been offered in China, up 22% from a yr in the past.

Inside that market, Nio mentioned it delivered 31,041 autos within the first quarter, up by 20.5% year-on-year. One other U.S.-listed Chinese language electrical automotive model, Li Auto, noticed first quarter deliveries soar by greater than 60% to greater than 52,000 autos.

BYD stays by far the dominant market participant in China. It offered 264,647 purely battery-powered passenger automobiles within the first three months of the yr, up greater than 80% from a yr in the past. Hybrid passenger car gross sales doubled from a yr in the past to 283,270 within the first quarter.

Tesla delivered greater than 422,000 automobiles worldwide within the first quarter, up 36% from a yr in the past. The corporate didn’t get away figures for China, which usually accounts for properly over 20% of Tesla’s income.

Within the final two years, Nio started deliveries to European nations reminiscent of Norway and Germany. Tensions between China and the U.S. have escalated, whereas relations between Europe and Beijing haven’t been clean both.

Sustainable world growth requires good merchandise for customers world wide, one thing that can not be completed by counting on a single nation, Li mentioned.

“Regardless of the large challenges we face from geopolitics, we nonetheless need to stick with serving our prospects, take note of the tempo of funding and handle operational dangers properly,” he mentioned.

When requested about U.S. market, Li mentioned the corporate was continuing with its plans. “However we all know challenges will definitely be larger and larger,” he mentioned, with out elaborating.