Several spy shots of what is said to be Onvo's first model, the L60, show more details of the vehicle. Nio is expected to give the Onvo brand its debut in a month's time.
(Image credit: @进击的大张伟 on Weibo)
A new set of spy photos show more details of the first model of Nio's (NYSE: NIO) sub-brand Onvo (Ledao in Chinese), with the sub-brand roughly a month away from making its debut.
Automotive blogger @进击的大张伟 today shared several spy photos of what is said to be Onvo's first model, the L60, saying he happened to see the model on the side of the road.
The car is wide and looks sporty, according to the blogger.
Onvo is a sub-brand of Nio under the internal codename Alps, and the electric vehicle (EV) maker has another sub-brand under the internal codename Firefly.
On March 2, Nio founder, chairman, and CEO William Li said in a user communication that those who want to buy a Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model Y recently can wait for a while, and Alps' first model will definitely be cheaper than it.
Alps' first model will support battery swap, and it will charge faster and have a bigger screen, Li said at the time.
On March 5, He Lei, CEO of local automotive media outlet Xchuxing, shared two images from a follower in his website's forum that he claimed were Alps' first model.
The camouflage-wrapped car has a few words plastered on its rear window, meaning it's better than Tesla's Model Y.
On March 13, two spy photos of the Onvo L60 model were widely circulated on Chinese social media, bringing the name of Nio's sub-brand to light.
Nio confirmed the name of the sub-brand during a media Q&A after its March 14 long-life battery strategy launch, saying the brand launch is expected to be in early-mid May.
After nearly three years in the making, Onvo is about to enter an intensive marketing period, local media outlet Jiemian said in an April 7 story.
This is a key brand for Nio to achieve scaled volume growth and amortize manufacturing costs, and an important step in determining whether it can turn around its losses and improve its financials, the story noted.
Nio is ready for Onvo's marketing rhythm, with the sub-brand's executive team not taking a break during the Qingming Festival, or Tomb Sweeping Day, holiday, but instead holding meetings to prepare for the upcoming marketing operations, Jiemian said, citing a person familiar with the matter.
This year's Qingming Festival holiday was April 4-6, with April 7 being an extra working day, albeit a Sunday.
Nio to officially launch Onvo brand in May, explains meaning of name
