Shanghai-based electric vehicle maker Nio delivered 23,231 vehicles in May, marking a 13.1% increase from a year earlier, as sales spanned its three brands—Nio, Onvo and Firefly.
The group’s premium Nio brand accounted for 13,270 units, while Onvo, its family-oriented sub-brand, delivered 6,281 vehicles — achieving its second best result ever.
Firefly, the company’s newly launched sub-brand that rivals both BMW’s MINI and Smart, recorded 3,680 deliveries in its first full month on the market.
A year ago, Nio Group operated only its core brand. Onvo began delivering its debut model last September, and Firefly started deliveries on April 29.
May deliveries were down 2.8% from April’s 23,900 units. In April, the Nio brand contributed 19,269 units, Onvo 4,400, and Firefly 231 units delivered in the final two days of the month.
Deutsche Bank had estimated Nio Group would deliver “around 27,000” vehicles in May, which would represent the second-best month ever for the company. The actual deliveries missed the forecast by approximately 14%.
The premium brand Nio saw its deliveries fall over 31% both year over year (35.4%) and month over month (31.1%).
In May, Nio introduced updated versions of four of its most affordable models — the ES6, EC6, ET5, and ET5 Touring — as part of a product refresh.
Deliveries of the updated ES6 and EC6 began on May 20, while the refreshed ET5 and ET5 Touring followed on May 25.
The new versions bring several upgrades such as the in-house developed autonomous driving chip with prices remaining unchanged.
The update will continue in August or September with the launch the updated ES8.
Nio plans to launch its upcoming flagship SUV, the ES9, in the first half of 2026, co-founder and president Lihong Qin said on Friday.
Nio’s co-founder said on Friday that Onvo will launch the L90 flagship SUV in August, followed by the L80 in the fourth quarter. The L90 was unveiled in late April at the Shanghai Auto Show.
On Saturday, the founder and CEO of the Group William had said Onvo’s figures would rise “at least 40%” in May despite the 40% reduction in the frontline workforce.
The brand delivered 5,912 units in January, 4,049 in February, 4,820 in March, and 4,400 in April.
Nio aims to double its annual vehicle sales in 2025, supported by the rollout of refreshed models, the launch of new SUVs, and the debut of its most affordable EV under the new Firefly sub-brand.
“Our target is still the same, just to double the sales volume from last year,” founder and CEO William Li stated on the last earnings call in March.
As of the enf of May, Nio Group’s cumulative deliveries reached 760,789 vehicles.
