(Bloomberg) -- Chinese electric car upstart Nio Inc. will take its first step outside its home market, opening a showroom and beginning to sell vehicles in environmentally conscious Norway.

Nio will start delivering the latest version of its ES8 all-electric six- or seven-seat sports utility vehicle to the Nordic nation in September, Chief Executive Officer William Li said at an event at the company’s Shanghai headquarters on Thursday.

“Launching in the European market will definitively help us grow,” Li said. It will set a “higher bar because we’re entering developed countries with more aggressive competition.”

Choosing Norway as its European beachhead presents opportunities and challenges for Shanghai-based, U.S.-listed Nio. Norway last year became the first nation in the world to see electric cars seize a majority of annual vehicle sales, thanks to green-friendly government incentives and extensive charging infrastructure. The country wants all cars sold there to be zero-emission in 2025. However, little known outside China, Nio will be going up against more-established EVs like Audi’s e-Tron SUV, Tesla Inc.’s Model 3 sedan and Nissan Motor Co.’s Leaf hatchback.

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Even traditional Chinese automakers, from Great Wall Motor Co. to Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., have struggled to crack overseas markets, held back by a lack of name recognition, perceived question marks over their quality and reliability, and a dearth of dealer and service networks. Both Great Wall and Geely got less than 10% of their revenue outside their home market last year, according to compiled by Bloomberg.

It’s also a risky move for a company that less than two years ago was on the brink of collapse before getting a funding lifeline from the Hefei municipal government. While last week reporting a narrower first-quarter loss, Nio is facing stiff competition in China from rival startups Xpeng Inc. and Li Auto Inc., as well as facing new challenges from tech giants like Baidu Inc. and Xiaomi Corp. which are pouring billions of dollars into EV investments. Global automakers from BMW AG to Volkswagen AG are also rolling out new models to grab a bigger slice of the market.

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