Two uncamouflaged spy photos of a model allegedly under Nio's second brand are circulating on social media today, with the rear end showing the vehicle's English brand name as Onvo.
Nio's (NYSE: NIO) second brand, codenamed Alps, may be called Onvo in English and Ledao (乐道) in Chinese, according to latest spy photos.
Two uncamouflaged spy photos of a model allegedly under Nio's second brand have been circulating widely on Chinese social media today, showing a number of details of the model.
The rear end shows the vehicle's English brand name as Onvo, its Chinese brand name as Ledao (乐道) and its model number as L60.
It's worth noting that both Onvo and Ledao are trademarks that have already been registered by Nio.
Nio owns the Onvo trademark in a number of categories, including transportation, which was filed in October 2021 and the current status is registered, according to data provider Tianyancha.
The company has applied for three Chinese trademarks for Ledao, all for transportation, the earliest of which was filed in January 2005 and is currently registered.
The other two Chinese Ledao trademarks were registered in May 2022 and July 2022 respectively, one of which is in the process of being rejected for re-examination, and the status of the other is waiting for substantive examination.
The latest spy photos show no LiDAR on top of the vehicle, but there are what appear to be cameras on both sides of the windshield.
Currently Nio's NT 2.0 platform-based models come standard with a roof LiDAR and a camera on each side of the roof.
This seems to corroborate previous media reports. On January 17, local media outlet HiEV cited several people familiar with the matter as saying that Alps' smart driving program will be based on a single Nvidia Orin X chip, with the LiDAR removed.
The use of a single Orin chip and the removal of LiDAR will make Alps' smart driving solution distinctly different from the Nio brand, HiEV reported.
Alps' first car will start at between RMB 200,000 ($27,800) and RMB 250,000, with the goal of having pilot-assisted driving in urban areas at the time of delivery, the report said.
Lower-cost smart driving solutions give Alps a chance to disrupt the market, the report noted.
The Alps brand will debut in the second quarter, with the first product launching in the third quarter and mass deliveries beginning in the fourth quarter, William Li, Nio's founder, chairman, and CEO, said on March 5 during an analyst call following the company's announcement of fourth-quarter 2023 earnings.
Alps' first model will be one that competes directly with Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model Y, with a BOM (bill of materials) cost that will be about 10 percent cheaper than Tesla's, Li said at the time.
Alps' second vehicle will be an SUV aimed at large families, which will come to market next year, he said.
Earlier on March 5, new spy photos of what is suspected to be Alps' first model were revealed, showing the model closer to production status.
The camouflage-wrapped car has a couple of words plastered on the rear window, meaning it's better than Tesla's Model Y.
($1 = RMB 7.1939)
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