Nio intends to launch its long-awaited Firefly sub-brand in Europe in 2025 as it looks to rival more established legacy car manufacturers. News about the Firefly brand first emerged last year with reports indicating it will focus on vehicles priced between 100,000 yuan (US$ 14,000) and 200,000 yuan (US$ 28,000). Nio is also thought to be developing a second sub-brand known as Alps that will offer models priced between 200,000 yuan (US$ 28,000) and 300,000 yuan (US$ 42,000) while leaving the Nio brand itself as the flagship.
While recently speaking during an online
news conference, Nio president Lihong Qin revealed that the Firefly brand is
coming to Europe in 2025, although he failed to confirm how much its models
will cost. He said that Firefly, like Alps, will produce cars for families with
those from Firefly being smaller, Reuters reports.
Interestingly, Nio’s boss did not divulge
any details about the Alps brand in Europe. In October 2022, reports surfaced
that Nio would launch this mid-tier brand sometime in 2024, first in China and
then in Europe just a few months later. It is expected to target sales markets
where mass-market cars dominate the sales charts, unlike in Germany where premium
models from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi are much more common. He pinpointed
countries such as France, Italy, and Spain where Alps could first sell its
models.
The Nio models currently sold in Europe
are priced between € 50,000 (US$ 54,500) and € 91,000 (US$ 99,300), making them
far too expensive to sell in particularly high numbers. The launch of the Alps
and Firefly brands will change this and should make models from Nio a much more
common sight on European roads. The Firefly and Alps brands are tipped to
operate independently from Nio and have their own research and development
teams.
