If you want to understand just how involuted China’s electric car market has become, you might visit the two-story NIO dealership along Nanjing Road in the heart of downtown Shanghai. A barista recommended the dealership’s specialty drink, a lychee-flavored tea, before guiding me on a tour of the space, which included a cafeteria, a library, a “Joy Camp” where NIO owners can leave their kids during the day, and a multipurpose room available for events. Before I left, I was added to an online community on the company’s smart phone app, where NIO owners can talk about their interests, ranging from cars and sports to coffee and parenting.
NIO operates 179 of these special dealerships — the carmaker prefers the term “NIO Houses” — around the world, according to the company. Together, they represent an ambitious effort to woo buyers by selling them not just a car, but a lifestyle. The carmaker’s strategy has drawn criticism in some corners for being overly idealistic and financially unsustainable, but in the cutthroat world of China’s car industry, that hasn’t stopped other brands from following suit. Major Chinese EV manufacturers like BYD, Li Auto, Xpeng, and Xiaomi have all embraced the concept to varying degrees, building out high-end, comprehensive dealer networks offering everything from tech trainings to art galleries.
While there are plenty of questions about the strategy — are car buyers really swayed by the idea of dealership day care? — I was more interested in how it had affected another group: designers.
Over the past several years, China’s EV boom has thrown a lifeline to a design industry still reeling from the collapse of the real estate bubble. Unlike the United States, where automakers are typically required to sell their vehicles via a third-party dealership, most Chinese EV brands market to customers directly. Doing so has required the establishment and maintenance of a distinct visual identity across hundreds of storefronts nationwide. According to the real estate consultancy JLL, Shanghai malls alone housed nearly 500 dealerships by late 2023.
For Kai Hu, the opportunity to work with Chinese EV makers proved career-defining. Formerly a designer at an international architecture firm, he joined Jidu Auto, a joint venture between the internet giant Baidu and automaker Geely, shortly after its founding in 2021.
“Working in a design firm, you’re in what we call the ‘customer service’ side, so it’s easy to hit a ceiling in your career,” Hu tells me. “I’m not talking about salary, but the growth of your vision and expertise. Joining Jidu Auto at a critical juncture of its expansion offered me the chance to help shape its offline presence and user mindset.”
A prime example of this sort of work can be found at Skymall, located in one of Shanghai’s western suburbs. Open in 2009, prime real estate on the mall’s ground floor used to be dominated by fashion giants such as Zara. Now it’s packed with car showrooms from nine EV makers, as well as Huawei, which has added EVs to its already massive business portfolio. Some models are parked next to an ice rink at the mall’s center — a nod to the fact that families with children are the primary purchasers of EVs in China.
Designing EV showrooms is as much about business as it is about decoration, Hu says. Which type of layout can improve visiting experience and facilitate deals? Where should the logo be displayed? How much lighting is appropriate? The speed at which car manufacturers update their lineup and branding is another challenge: According to Hu, designers can find themselves tasked with attracting consumers into the store before the carmaker even has a product to sell.
Architects and interior designers aren’t the only ones flocking to the EV industry. “It’s not just making spaces — the need for new models, store events, and promotional materials have all spawned design suppliers specializing in serving automakers,” Hu says.
Haidy Gong, co-founder of the design studio aolab Design, is among the designers trying to land potentially lucrative product design contracts with the auto industry. A graduate of the ArtCenter College of Design, in Pasadena, California, she’s seen a growing demand for lifestyle-oriented products among Chinese EV brands. “NIO pioneered the development of (car) lifestyle products, and many car brands followed suit,” Gong says. “People are beginning to pay more attention to things beyond the cars themselves.”
One of aolab’s signature works was a wireless microphone tailored to NIO’s car ecosystem and design language. In a 2023 post introducing the product, the company touted the microphone as a way “to transform cars into a karaoke machine in seconds” — a selling point targeted at family car buyers who get bored during long journeys.
It may seem like an odd accessory, but the product embodies Chinese car manufacturers’ unorthodox mentality, which Gong contrasts with the “steadier” approach found at American, German, and Japanese firms.
It’s also an attempt to woo younger consumers, who now make up the bulk of car buyers in the country, through customization. “While customers in their 30s or 40s appreciate the microphone’s default silver finish, which is reminiscent of Apple’s aesthetic, younger buyers can opt for vibrant colors and lighting effects,” she says.
In addition to microphones, aolab has also designed car accessories, such as air fresheners, and showcase areas for NIO. The studio now lists the firm as a key client alongside industry giants such as BMW and Volkswagen.
Still, there are signs that carmakers have overreached. Last October, the EV start-up Zeekr was ridiculed for an ad campaign centered around eating hot pot in the car, suggesting that consumer patience for excessive marketing targeting niche demands may be reaching its limit.
Meanwhile, an ongoing price war has eaten into EV makers’ profit margins — and forced some to reevaluate their priorities. Ji Yue, the rebranded successor to Jidu Auto, announced a major restructuring last December, shutting showrooms nationwide, including its Skymall location.
Hu left Ji Yue before the cuts, taking a job as a store designer for a fashion retailer. A new equilibrium seems to have set in, both for his career and for China’s consumer market. EV companies have successfully shed the stereotype of made-in-China products as being cheap and poorly designed. The question now — not just for the carmakers, but for the millions of people in China whose jobs are tied to their success — is whether their business models can outrun the storm clouds on the horizon.
(Header image: Two consumers walk past a NIO House in Shanghai, Jan. 22, 2025. Wu Huiyuan/Sixth Tone)
