Nio Sub-brand

In the long term, if local sales reach a certain level, say 100,000 units, local production should take place, Nio CEO William Li said.

The Firefly brand, while focused on small cars, will be based on five-star European safety standards and will support battery swap, Nio CEO William Li said last week.

Although the car is tightly wrapped in camouflage, it can be seen looking similar to the Zeekr X or Volkswagen's ID.3.

Previous reports said Firefly models would be built at Nio's F4 plant in Chuzhou.

Nio will launch the Firefly brand in Europe in 2025, Reuters quoted the EV maker's president as saying.

Alps is rumored to no longer be a standalone program, with the team's personnel assigned to various Nio divisions and some positions cut.

Nio is committed to a direct sales network in Europe, and the Firefly project is evaluating multiple channel models in Europe, including direct and dealer models, it said.

Alps' first model, internally codenamed DOM, will be produced on production lines shared with Nio models, according to local media.

Alps is one of Nio's most important cards for next year, and the EV maker is equipping it with a more flexible business strategy, as well as pouring almost all of its cutting-edge technology into it, local media said.

The first Firefly model has seen a design freeze in late June and is expected to enter the mold development phase in early August, allaying employee fears that the project could be scrapped, according to local media.