Nio Firefly's first model is expected to be ready by the end of this year, with the smart driving system to be based on a vendor-supplied solution, according to local media.
Nio (NYSE: NIO) is moving forward with the manufacturing of a model under its third brand, internally codenamed Firefly, with the first model under its second brand, Onvo, about to hit the market.
The first model of the Nio Firefly is expected to be ready by the end of this year, with a smart driving system that will utilize a vendor-supplied solution, local media outlet TMT Post reported today.
Firefly's first model falls somewhere between a small SUV and a compact SUV, the report said.
The brief report doesn't mention anything more about Firefly.
Nio is currently gearing up for the upcoming launch of the L60, the first model of the Onvo brand -- internally codenamed Alps.
The first production unit of the Onvo L60 rolled off the assembly line at Nio's F2 plant in NeoPark, Hefei, Anhui province, on August 15, with the official launch set for late September.
The Onvo L60 has a pre-sale price of RMB 219,900 ($30,030), which is RMB 30,000 less than the Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model Y.
In January 2023, Nio co-founder and president Qin Lihong confirmed the existence of a third brand, Firefly, at a user event, saying that the brand was targeting the small car as well as micro car market.
The first Firefly model would be priced in the range of RMB 100,000 to RMB 200,000, Qin said at the time.
On March 14, William Li, founder, chairman and CEO of Nio, said in his first live stream on Douyin, a short-video platform, that Firefly is to Nio what Mini is to BMW.
Although the Firefly brand focuses on small cars, it will be built based on the European five-star safety standards and support battery swap, he said.
Support for battery swap will make these cars significantly cheaper to buy, even though owners will have to pay a monthly fee for the battery.
The Firefly brand won't be able to use Nio's existing battery swap stations; it will have its own smaller stations, Li said at a June 30 user communications event.
($1 = RMB 7.0874)
Nio's Firefly models will still be competitive in Europe even with extra tariffs, says William Li
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