Firefly show cars arrive at over 300 Nio stores, official launch 1 day away

• Firefly will hold an all-day event for its first model on April 19, with the official product launch starting at 8 pm Beijing time.
• The model went on pre-sales in China last December for RMB 148,800 yuan ($20,390).

Show cars for the first model of Nio’s (NYSE: NIO) third brand, Firefly, are already available at more than 300 Nio stores in China, the brand announced today on its mobile app.

Starting April 18, Chinese consumers will be able to view the model at Nio stores, the brand said.

Firefly will begin its launch event for its first model on April 19 at 9:30 am Beijing time, featuring a live city drive video stream that will last about 12 hours.

The model’s official launch event will take place on April 19 from 8:00-8:45 pm Beijing time.

This is unlike previous launch events in China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry, which were usually held in a large venue.

Firefly’s special launch has to do with the brand’s positioning to target the urban mobility scene.

Firefly’s first model is a boutique small car that will primarily target people who live in densely populated cities where parking is not so convenient.

Firefly’s first model bears the same name as the sub-brand and was available for pre-sales in China on Nio Day 2024 last December at a pre-sales price of RMB 148,800 yuan ($20,390).

A few days after the model’s launch, the biennial Shanghai auto show will begin on April 23.

Nio will display a full range of models at the show, including the main Nio brand, as well as its two sub-brands, Onvo and Firefly.

Onvo will have its own booth, at 6B03 in Hall 6.2H, opposite Xiaomi EV’s 6B02.

Firefly will share a booth with the Nio brand at 7A16 in Hall 7.1H, near BMW and Great Wall Motor.

Sales of Firefly vehicles will also be in Nio stores, unlike Onvo which has a separate sales network.

Last month, Nio announced an agreement with CATL (SHE: 300750) to build the world’s largest battery swap service network.

CATL’s Choco-Swap technology standard and network will be introduced in subsequent newly developed models of the Firefly brand, according to a statement from Nio at the time.

For the first Firefly model, Nio will initially set up demonstration battery swap stations for it in cities with high user populations, Firefly president Daniel Jin said on March 18.

In the future, the model will have access to Nio’s fifth-generation battery swap stations, and will be integrated into Nio’s battery swap system, Jin said.

($1 = RMB 7.2975)