Nio confirmed the Onvo name and said the brand's official launch is expected in early-mid May.
(A spy shot of what is allegedly the first Onvo model leaked on March 5, 2024.)
Nio (NYSE: NIO) has confirmed the Chinese name of its new mass-market brand, codenamed Alps, as Ledao (乐道) and the English name as Onvo, and revealed a tentative time frame for the brand's launch, after yesterday's spy photos generated a lot of discussion.
The electric vehicle (EV) maker confirmed the Onvo name during a media Q&A following the launch of its long-life battery strategy in Beijing today, saying that the brand's official launch is expected to be in early to mid-May.
The name of Nio's sub-brand was brought to light yesterday when two spy photos of the Onvo L60 model were widely circulated on Chinese social media.
The spy shots were leaked by an employee of a third-party supplier that conducts vehicle testing on the model, and Nio has not pursued his liability, said William Li, the company's founder, chairman, and CEO.
Li said the poor quality of the spy shots made the Onvo model look ugly, but it's actually quite beautiful.
Li explained why the Chinese name is Ledao and re-emphasized that the sub-brand will target the family market.
The sub-brand's target group is clear: family users, Li said.
"What is the most important thing for a family? The first one, is to be happy and joyful. The second, is to care about the cost and the cost of use. These two points add up to having a happy family and managing the family well (阖家欢乐，持家有道)," Li said.
"Every road a family takes together is a happy road, and that's what its name means," Li said.
Its program code name, Alps, does not reflect Nio's thinking about that new brand and the value it hopes to bring, he said.
"The name was chosen very carefully and Nio finalized the English and Chinese names in the second half of 2023," he added.
Li emphasized that Onvo is a brand for the mass market, but not a low- to mid-range brand.
Li said in a user communication on March 2 in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, 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, he said at the time.
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, Li said on March 5 during an analyst call following Nio's fourth-quarter 2023 earnings announcement.
Alps' first model will be one that competes directly with Model Y, and will have a BOM (bill of materials) cost about 10 percent cheaper than Tesla's, Li said at the time.
The model is widely expected to target the 200,000 yuan ($27,800) to 300,000 yuan range.
The Model Y is currently offered in three versions in China, with starting prices of RMB 258,900, RMB 299,900, and RMB 363,900, respectively.
($1 = RMB 7.1907)
Nio's William Li asks potential Tesla Model Y buyers to wait for Alps' 1st model
