NIO overseas VP resigns, former Momenta R&D director Ren Shaoqing takes over.
NIO Self-Driving, Image Credit: NIO
According to 36Kr, Jamie Carlson, vice president of autonomous driving in NIO North America, resigned in June and returned to Apple’s Special Projects Group. Apple’s car project 'Titan' actually came from this project team. In October 2016, Jamie Carlson left Apple to join the NIO North America R&D Center.
After Jamie Carlson left, NIO soon found a successor in China, former Momenta R&D director Ren Shaoqing. Ren Shaoqing will report directly to NIO CEO Li Bin according to a core management person in NIO. This change is possibly relevant to NIO's shifting R&D from overseas to China.
In April 2020, NIO signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Hefei City. NIO’s China headquarters settled in Hefei and received CNY 7 billion investment from strategic investors such as Hefei Construction Investment and SDIC China Merchants. NIO has invested CNY 4.26 billion in supporting facilities. The second-quarter financial report shows that NIO already holds CNY 11.2 billion in cash and cash equivalents.