Nio, when contacted, denied it talked to Mercedes on a collaboration, calling it "untrue", without elaborating.
Mercedes said in a separate response that there were no collaboration plans with Nio at the moment.
Chinese EV companies may also be able to navigate potential trade barriers better by forging such tie-ups.
Nio, whose investors include Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings (0700.HK), has publicly called for more such tie-ups with established automakers.
($1 = 7.3127 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Additional reporting by Ilona Wissenbach in Frankfurt; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons:
William Li, Ola Kaellenius, Nio, Mercedes, Leapmotor, Elon Musk, Tesla, Nio's Li, Zhang Yan, Brenda Goh, Ilona Wissenbach, Muralikumar
Organizations:
HK, Mercedes, Benz, Nio, EV, Volkswagen, SAIC, Audi, VW's, Tencent Holdings, Thomson
Locations:
SHANGHAI, China, Tesla, Frankfurt