It’s the age of the internet. Misinformation spreads faster than wildfire, especially when it comes to juicy corporate affairs. And trust us, it doesn’t get juicier than the recent whispers surrounding Nio’s supposed partnership with Mercedes-Benz. Only problem? Nio says it’s all fake news.
Hold onto your steering wheel, folks; here’s the full breakdown.
Late last week, Nio’s main man, William Li, was seen casually giving a few non-Chinese individuals a tour of one of their snazzy battery swap stations. What’s the big deal, right? Enter social media detectives. Speculations started churning the mill, suggesting that these foreign guests had to be from Mercedes-Benz. Why? Well, why not?
Fast forward to a few WeChat and Weibo posts later, and BAM! There’s talk about Nio and Mercedes-Benz singing kumbaya together in EV harmony. A Chinese forum post even went the extra mile, claiming that Nio’s battery swap platform is about to become Mercedes-Benz’s newest playground.
After all, in the recent past we just saw Volkswagen and XPeng cozying up, following Audi and SAIC shaking hands in agreement. So why not Mercedes-Benz and Nio, right?
Let’s pump the brakes. For those keeping score, this isn’t the first time the rumor mill has linked the two auto giants. In May, there was this photo making the rounds showing Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius kicking back at a Nio House. Naturally, everyone’s favorite pastime – wild speculations – took over, wondering about the nature of that tête-à-tête.
Let’s not forget about that curious screenshot, insinuating that Mercedes-Benz would be hopping onto the Nio bandwagon with battery swaps. Well it’s not happening or at least not at this point.
