(Yicai Global) Oct. 10 -- Edinburgh's investment management firm Baillie Gifford, Tesla's largest investor after Elon Musk, has acquired a minority stake in Chinese new energy vehicle startup NIO, which is often dubbed "China's Tesla." The news of hedging between the two new high horses in the world's biggest market for NEVs has amplified NIO's share price. 

Baillie Gifford bought 11.4 percent, or 85.3 million of NIO's stocks, a filing from yesterday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission shows. This is more than the 7 percent stake it holds in Tesla. The news pushed NIO's shares up 22.35 percent to close at USD7.39 yesterday. 

NIO went public on the New York Stock Exchange last month, as it issued 160 million shares with an initial price of USD6.26 per stock. The Shanghai-based company logged a net loss of USD502.6 million in the first half of this year and a revenue of less than USD7 million, almost all of which came from car sales, the prospectus shows. Last year, the loss was proportionally smaller at USD758.8 million for the whole 12 months.

In June, NIO started deliveries of its first product, the ES8, which is a seven-seat sport utility vehicle. The firm plans to introduce its smaller five-seat model, the ES6, by the end of this year.

Editor: Emmi Laine