Chinese electric car maker listing on NYSE says its cars are faster and cheaper than Tesla's

• Chinese electric car maker Nio listed shares Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
• The company said the IPO market is tough, partly due to U.S.-China trade tensions.
• The Chinese auto market is growing rapidly, despite contraction elsewhere.
• Nio said its cars are better and cheaper than comparable Tesla vehicles.

Chinese electric vehicle startup Nio Inc.'s first employee Tianshu Li and the company's leadership team celebrate at the New York Stock Exchange to commemorate the company's initial public offering in New York, Sept. 12, 2018.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Chinese electric car company Nio is listing shares on Tesla's home turf and wants to squeeze market share away from Elon Musk and the company in China.

Nio listed its shares Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange, and wants to expand into Europe and the United States, the company's chief financial officer, Louis Hsieh, said.

It has not been an easy journey toward the initial public offering, Hsieh said, partly due to trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Shares of Nio were up slightly Wednesday afternoon.

Still, there is plenty of upside, Hsieh said.

"We're telling investors the opportunity in front of Nio is huge," he said. "China is 60 percent of the global market and growing even this year 80 percent a year even though the auto market is down."

In addition, Nio is the only premium electric vehicle in China besides Tesla, and Nio's seven-seat SUV is a better product at a cheaper price than the Tesla Model X, Hsieh said.

"Ours comes in at less than half the price, better features, a faster car," he said.

Nio is also coming out with a model that will be comparable to the Tesla Model 3 at about two-thirds the price, and that will have longer range and quicker acceleration.

Tesla was not immediately available for comment.

WATCH: Nio's electric car half the price of Tesla Model X in China