Firefly has announced on Friday that it has shipped the next batch of its debut model for deliveries in Europe, as it prepares to launch in several markets across the Continent.
The Nio Group has also teased for the first time that its most affordable sub-brand will be entering North America.
In a new Weibo post, the brand stated that “driven strongly by Nio‘s national general-distributor model, Firefly is deepening its presence across Europe, North America, and Asia.”
In mid-August, Nio announced it was entering Costa Rica, its first (Central) American market. The EV maker aims to launch in the market “between 2025 and 2026.”
At the same time, it announced its entry in Singapore and Uzbekistan. Earlier this week, the first Onvo units have been spotted in the Uzbek market, signaling that the launch is imminent.
The EV maker has never indicated any plans to enter Canada, but that possibility could now be inferred.
Late last month, the Canadian government said it was considering removing the 100% tariff on Chinese EV imports, a duty it had introduced in late 2024 in line with the US measure.
US Expansion Halt
Nio has faced investment cuts and pressure from ongoing US-China trade tensions, which have culminated in a halt in the US expansion, as exclusively reported by EV in June.
By then, the company lay off its entire Go-To-Market team, including Chief Business Officer Saurabh Bhatnagar.
Last month, a former member of Nio’s US team further confirmed that the company will not directly sell vehicles in the United States, while revealing that its technology will be licensed to McLaren.
Recently, EV exclusively learned that Benjamin Steinmetz, a key figure in Nio‘s product experience strategy for international markets, has resigned from the company.
Firefly in Europe
Firefly is launching in Europe alongside the main premium brand Nio.
“Recently, a large batch of Firefly smart premium small EVs, born from Nio, set sail from Shanghai’s Waigaoqiao Port bound for Europe, marking another boost in the brand’s globalization journey,” the brand wrote.
Nio first entered Europe in 2021 with a direct-to-customer model, opening its own showrooms in Norway, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
Now the company is adding traditional dealerships to its strategy to expand more widely across Europe and boost demand for its vehicles.
Firefly noted that “from its launch in China on April 19 to the first delivery in Europe, the process took less than four months, setting a new record for Nio‘s fastest overseas market expansion.”
First Deliveries in Europe
Orders for the Firefly model opened first in Norway and the Netherlands, where deliveries have began on August 14.
So far, and according to official national registration figures, a total of 23 Firefly units have been registered in the Dutch market.
Nine of them have been listed in the last month alone. Six of them were test-drive units registered in June, ahead of customer deliveries.
In Norway, 17 Fireflys were registered so far, with October numbers representing six of them.
Prices for the Firefly model start from €29,990 ($34,500) across its European markets.
Deliveries Start in Belgium, Denmark
On Friday, the EV maker also announced that deliveries had started in two additional markets.
“So far, this lively small car has begun deliveries in the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, and Denmark,” Firefly stated.
Nio Group is “re-entering” the Danish market with a dealership model. It first entered the country in 2022. However, it has never established an actual sales network.
The company announced its expansion into both Belgium and Luxembourg in early June, appointing Hedin Automotive as its exclusive distributor.
Firefly and Nio were formally presented to the press in Brussels in August. By then, the EV maker said deliveries would begin in September.
Nio said on Thursday — with Firefly reiterating on Friday — that pre-orders are set to open “soon” in Austria, Greece, and Portugal.
The company held its launch event for the Austrian market earlier this week.
