Used to being praised for its cutting-edge electric vehicles (EVs), Nio Inc. (NIO.US; 9866.HK) found itself in unfamiliar terrain last week when it became the target of online sarcasm after announcing it would slash prices for all of its electric vehicles (EVs) by 30,000 yuan ($4,209). Just two months earlier, CEO William Li had proclaimed he would never join the price war now throttling his sector, saying such blind cuts would only lead to “unhealthy competition”.

Nio’s about-face highlights the plight now facing China’s EV makers, as they try to navigate an unexpected turn in the road that analysts say could stretch on for some time to come. Smaller firms are in the most difficult bind since further cuts will further erode their already thin margins. But refusing to stay in the cutting game risks losing sales to industry heavyweights such as BYD (1211.HK; 002594.SZ) and Tesla (TSLA.US).

We’ll look shortly at how the recent price war is affecting China’s smaller homegrown EV makers, which also include Li Auto (LI.US; 2015.HK), Leapmotor (9863.HK) and Xpeng (XPEV.US; 9868.HK), as well as non-listed peers like WM Motor. But first, we’ll shift into reverse to see how the ongoing months-long price war has evolved.