Nio will launch its Firefly brand in Europe in 2024, with the Alps brand likely to follow after 2025, Reuters quoted the EV maker’s president as saying.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
Nio (NYSE: NIO) will launch its cheaper sub-brand codenamed Firefly in Europe in 2024, Reuters quoted the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker’s co-founder and president, Qin Lihong, as saying in a report today.
The plan is a year earlier than previously disclosed, the Reuters report noted. Another Nio sub-brand, codenamed Alps, will possibly be launched in Europe after 2025, the report quoted Qin as saying.
Both brands will make family cars, with Firefly offering smaller models, Qin said in a news conference online today, according to the report.
Nio’s management first confirmed in August 2021 that the company would enter the lower-priced mass market with a sub-brand, mentioning the sub-brand’s internal codename of Alps in subsequent communication.
On January 26, Qin said that in addition to Alps, another Nio sub-brand, codenamed Firefly, was in the planning stages and would be delivered first to European consumers.
The Firefly model would debut in Europe and was expected to go on sale in the third quarter of 2024, Qin said on January 26 at a face-to-face event with Nio vehicle owners.
In China, the Alps sub-brand is seen to be aimed primarily at the market priced at RMB 200,000 ($28,130) – RMB 300,000, while the Firefly brand is seen to be aimed at the market priced within the RMB 200,000 range.
On February 21, local media outlet Cailian reported that Nio’s fourth vehicle assembly plant will be set up in Chuzhou, Anhui province, and will produce Firefly models.
Nio’s vehicles are currently produced at its F1 and F2 plants in Hefei, Anhui province.
Speaking with domestic media yesterday, William Li, Nio’s founder, chairman and CEO, said that Alps is targeting the family market with only three models in its full life cycle.
Li also mentioned that Nio will be in a learning phase in expanding in overseas markets for a long time to come, and these efforts will not help sales much in the short term.
($1 = RMB 7.1103)
