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.
Several new spy shots allegedly of Nio's (NYSE: NIO) new brand, codenamed Firefly, have surfaced, showing more details of the model.
Car blogger @德卤爱开车 shared six images on Weibo today, saying that, judging by the size, the model should come from Nio's FY (Firefly) program.
The model will support battery swap, will be priced under RMB 200,000 yuan ($27,780), and will meet Europe's five-star safety standards, the blogger noted.
Nio's management first confirmed in August 2021 that the company would enter the lower-priced mass market through a sub-brand.
In subsequent communications, the company mentioned that it would have a brand codenamed Alps for the mainstream mass market and another brand codenamed Firefly for the lower priced market.
On March 13, several spy photos showed Alps with the Chinese name Ledao (乐道) and the English name Onvo.
On March 14, Nio management confirmed the Onvo (Ledao) name during a media Q&A following a long-life battery strategy and said the sub-brand's official launch is expected in early-mid May.
On January 26, 2023, Nio co-founder and president Qin Lihong said that another Nio sub-brand, codenamed Firefly, was in the planning stages and would be delivered first to European consumers.
On December 15, Reuters cited Qin as saying that Nio would launch the Firefly brand in Europe in 2025, offering smaller models.
On February 20, local media outlet HiEV shared four images on Weibo suggesting they were models from Nio's Firefly project.
On the evening of March 14, Nio founder, chairman, and CEO William Li said in his first live broadcast on short-video platform Douyin that for Nio, Firefly is the equivalent of Mini for BMW.
Although the Firefly brand focuses on small cars, it will be based on Europe's five-star safety standards and support battery swap, he said.
Li also said at the time that he drives a Nio ET5 when traveling alone, and may replace it with a Firefly model after it is launched.
In an interview with Cheng Li, founder of local automotive media outlet Cheyun, on March 16 while participating in the China EV 100 Forum, Li said the Onvo brand will target a price range of RMB 200,000 to RMB 300,000, while the Firefly project will aim for a price range of less than RMB 200,000.
Nio hopes to use its investment in R&D on these relatively lower-priced mass-market brands, so that more people can experience the new technology of smart EVs, Li said in the interview.
For cars, there's a limited price range that one brand can cover, and it makes sense to cover different ranges with different brands, Li said.
($1 = RMB 7.1991)
Nio Firefly: Spy shots of suspected debut model revealed for 1st time
