Chinese electric vehicle (EV) start-up Nio plans to enter the US market in late 2025 and launch more affordable models to compete against the likes of Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y.

William Li, co-founder and CEO of the Shanghai-based carmaker, told German media that it aimed to become one of the top five carmakers in the world by 2030 on the back of its global push.

“We envision becoming an active player in the US market at the end of 2025,” Li was quoted by Heise Autos as saying, adding that Nio would aggressively step up its overseas expansion once it has the right products and services for those markets.

He did not say if the carmaker planned to build a plant in the US as part of its strategy.

But Nio president Qin Lihong noted that the company would test overseas markets with exports of Chinese-made vehicles initially before making plans to localize production.

Under the Made in China 2025 industrial strategy, Beijing hopes several home-grown EV makers, such as BYD, Nio, Xpeng and rival Li Auto, will become global leaders with considerable market share outside the mainland.

“The US market offers opportunities for emerging electric-car makers since New York City and California require all new cars to be electric after 2035,” said Chen Jinzhu, CEO of consultancy firm Shanghai Mingliang Auto Service. “As Chinese carmakers hope to become global powerful players, they have to crack open the US market to prove their manufacturing might and design capabilities.”

Nio’s Li said earlier this year that it would create a new brand different from its premium namesake brand to help it compete against global marques such as Toyota and Volkswagen.

He said cars under the new brand would be priced between 200,000 yuan (US$27,844) and 300,000 yuan, slightly cheaper than Tesla’s Model 3, which is priced from 279,900 yuan.

Nio will also kick off its rental subscription business in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, under which Nio users in the four European markets can rent cars for between one month and 60 months.

Qin said the company expected to secure thousands of European users via the rental service model in the coming months.