What happened
Shares of Chinese electric-vehicle maker Nio (NIO 3.60%) were trading down on Monday morning, amid a broad stock market sell-off driven by concerns about the highly contagious omicron variant of COVID-19.
As of 10:30 a.m. ET, Nio's American depositary shares were down about 3.4% from Friday's closing price.
So what
Lots of stocks were down sharply on Monday morning, as traders and investors digested sobering new information about the omicron variant of COVID-19. The new variant is spreading swiftly in New York and other major cities around the world, increasing the likelihood of yet another wave of economic disruptions.
But Nio itself had some good news to share over the weekend. The company unveiled its second electric luxury-sports sedan, called the ET5, at its annual Nio Day event on Saturday. Like other Nios, the ET5 includes a long list of high-tech features, including special glasses that allow a passenger to see a variety of augmented-reality items inside the car.
Nio's second sedan, the ET5, will be positioned as a direct rival to the Tesla Model 3 when it arrives in September. Image source: Nio.
The ET5 will start at 328,000 Chinese yuan (about $51,400) when deliveries begin in September 2022, making it a direct competitor to Tesla's Model 3.
Separately, Nio announced that deliveries of the larger ET7 sedan, revealed in January, will begin on March 28.
Now what
Electric vehicle investors are well aware that Nio's stock has had a tough 2021, in part because the company had no new models while rivals including Xpeng and Li Auto launched new or substantially revised vehicles. But with the ET5, the ET7's launch confirmed for March, and at least one more new Nio expected before the end of next year, 2022 is already shaping up to be a different story.
That, and not the latest COVID variant, is what Nio investors should be focused on right now.
