China’s Nio Group plans to launch its cheapest sub-brand Firefly in between 20 and 30 countries this year, the brand chief Daniel Jin said on Tuesday while admitting a tough start to the year in the domestic market.
Speaking with the media outlet Nikkei at the Bangkok Motor Show, Jin admitted that sales in the domestic market have fallen “considerably” as the brand continues its global expansion in Asia and Europe while preparing the South American debut.
Nio‘s co-founder and President Qin Lihong said earlier this month that the company expects to deliver “several thousand units” outside China this year while laying the foundation for a “larger-scale expansion overseas in the next two to three years.”
Up to 30 Markets
Firefly currently operates in roughly ten overseas markets.
Thailand became the brand’s second right-hand drive market after Singapore, which received its first deliveries in January.
The brand entered Europe last August, starting with Norway and the Netherlands, and has since expanded to Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Austria, and Portugal.
Founder and CEO William Li wrote in a January 2 internal letter that Nio Group plans to “cumulatively enter 40 countries and regions” by the end of 2026 across its three brands — the premium Nio, the family-oriented Onvo, and the urban-focused Firefly.
Li first pledged to enter “over 25 countries and regions” at Nio Day 2021 — a goal the company fell short of, ending 2025 with approximately 20 markets including China.
At Auto Shanghai in April 2025, he outlined a 16-country Firefly expansion plan.
By November, speaking at a European showroom, he raised the target to 20 new markets in 2026. The January letter pushed it to 40 across the group.
Firefly’s Upcoming Markets
In Europe, the brand plans to enter the Czech Republic, Romania, Luxembourg, and Poland later this year.
The appearance of Poland’s country profile in Nio’s international app, first spotted last month by EV, signals that expansion is imminent.
The UK, Australia, and New Zealand are among the confirmed right-hand drive markets for 2026. Nio began mass-producing right-hand drive Firefly vehicles in November, with the first units destined for Singapore.
In Latin America, Costa Rica is set to become Nio‘s first market in the Americas through a partnership with Horizontes Cielo Azul Movilidad, announced in August.
Uruguay and Colombia were included in Li’s original 16-country plan from April 2025.
Jin told Nikkei that emerging markets including Nepal are also on the list — a market first mentioned in the April 2025 roadmap.
“The affluent in developing countries are far richer than you might imagine,” he said.
At the Guangzhou Auto Show in November, Jin told EV that Firefly was also in discussions to expand to Brazil and Spain, though he stressed the priority was “securing quality local partners in each market rather than rapid geographic expansion.”
Neither market has been formally announced as of Tuesday.
“Actually we have no limits in terms of the global markets that we’re planning to enter, as long as we can find good partners there,” Jin said at the time.
William Li had previously mentioned that the Nio Group would use Firefly as the first brand of the company to enter international markets before the possible arrival of the Nio or Onvo brands.
Globally, sales fell to the second worst month since deliveries began in late April 2025 to 2,657 units — down 5% from January.
European Market
Despite the ambitious global push, Europe — Mini‘s home turf — remains Firefly’s toughest challenge.
The Nio Group registered just 54 vehicles across nine European markets in February, a 37.5% decline from a year ago — despite having doubled the number of countries in which it operates, as reported by EV last week.
Brand awareness “is our biggest roadblock that cannot be overcome within a short period of time,” Jin said.
He added that Nio has “learned a lesson and paid a tuition” from its early direct-to-consumer strategy in Europe and will now rely exclusively on local distributors for Firefly’s expansion.
EV reported this month that Nio quietly dismantled its European management structure in February, splitting its operations into six separate departments and shifting sales toward a dealer and distributor model.
The reorganisation that came as registrations across its established European markets collapsed to their lowest levels since market entry.
The additional EU tariff of 21% on Chinese-made EVs, imposed in October 2024, has further compressed European margins. The Firefly starts at €29,900 in Europe — nearly double its Chinese price.
