Nio Group‘s registrations in the Dutch market — including both the Nio and Firefly brands — have dropped further to just five units in March, according to data published on Wednesday by BOVAG.
The figures represent an eight-unit drop from a year before — when only the Nio brand was available in the market — and a two-unit decrease from February.
The Chinese EV maker expanded to the Dutch market in October 2022 with its main premium brand.
Despite having begun deliveries of the significantly cheaper Firefly sub-brand in August 2025, the company founded and led by William Li continues to struggle for traction in Europe.
At the same time, these figures only represent newly registered vehicles, purchasing outright by the customer — not including data from contracts on vehicles under the Nio Subscription business, as EV exclusively learned.
A year after entering Norway, Nio debuted in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark with a subscription-only option for its cars.
However, the Shanghai-headquartered premium brand opted to announce an outright purchase option on the Old Continent just a month later, after backlash from potential customers.
Sales per Model
Of the five units sold, only one was from the Nio brand — a EL6 SUV. All other four vehicles were Firefly EVs.
The figures mark one of premium brand’s weakest months since entering the Netherlands, alongside June and November 2025.
During the first quarter, only six Nio vehicles were registered in the Dutch market — two EL6s and two EL8 SUVs.
It marks a 84.6% plunge compared to the first quarter of 2025, when 39 units had been delivered in the market.
Firefly accounted for the remaining 23 units (in a total of 29) sold by the Group in the first three months of 2026.
Inventory
A source familiar with the company told EV that the majority of registrations during Nio‘s initial European rollout were first-time fleet entries for subscription vehicles — meaning much of the apparent volume in 2022 and 2023 reflected fleet building rather than discrete customer sales.
Conversely, the current low figures partly reflect the fact that the fleet has already been registered and is now cycling internally.
At the same time, it indicates that no new inventory has been entering European markets in the past few years, while Nio is actively working to clear aging models.
The company ran official stock clearance promotions on the ET5, ET5 Touring, and EL6 through March 31, offering discounted battery subscriptions, purchase price reductions, and financing incentives.
Vehicles currently available in Europe were built in 2023 and 2024 under Nio‘s NT 2.0 platform — while the company has already moved on to the third-gen platform in China.
European Expansion
Across its five original European markets — Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark — Nio brand registrations fell 31% in 2025 to 1,129 vehicles.
Late last year, the company doubled its market presence in the Old Continent, launching in Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Hungary and Greece.
Nio Vice President Mark Zhou admitted in late February that the company made “fundamental miscalculations” in its European expansion, including bringing vehicles that were too large for local preferences and underestimating regulatory complexities.
As exclusively reported by EV last month, the company has quietly dismantled its European management structure after sales plunged to their lowest levels since market entry.
The company is now looking into establishing a mixed business deal in the Old Continent, with a new Europe Sales & Network Development team tasked with “expanding sales channels via General Distributors or Dealerships across Europe,” excluding Norway.
