Electric vehicle maker Nio on Monday evening held a launch event in Vienna marking the official arrival of the main brand and its Firefly sub-brand in Austria.
Nio has said that new markets for now will get only the premium Nio line and the cheaper Firefly brand. Onvo is planned for 2027.
As in other recent European launches, sales and after-sales are being handled by partners rather than the direct-sales model the company used in Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.
In Austria, the first partners are Auto-Auer and Lampelmaier.
The rollout includes four electric models: the ET5 sedan, ET5 Touring station wagon, EL6 SUV, and the Firefly compact.
The event was held on Monday at the Vienna Airport Tower and was attended by more than 30 journalists, according to Nio.
The launch took place on the same day the company’s top management — founder and CEO William Li, co-founder and president Lihong Qin, CFO Stanley Qu and Firefly president Daniel Ge — arrived in Europe for a business trip.
The executives visited Amsterdam on Monday and were in Oslo on Tuesday, where both founders held a Q&A session with customers at the Nio House in the Norwegian capital.
Nio will not offer its larger and more expensive “7 Series” vehicles — the ET7 sedan and EL7 SUV — in Austria.
The ET5, Nio’s cheapest model ever launched under the premium badge, starts from €59,990 in Austria, equivalent to $68,900.
The sedan has a WLTP range of 456 km with the 75 kWh pack or 590 km with the 100 kWh pack.
The ET5 Touring begins at €60,990, equivalent to $70,040, and offers up to 560 km of WLTP range.
The 4.85-meter EL6 SUV starts from €64,990 and delivers between 406 km and 529 km of WLTP range.
Firefly — the entry sub-brand — starts from €29,990, equivalent to $34,400. The compact five-door offers up to 330 km of WLTP range.
Nio went live with its Austrian website last month ahead of the sales launch.
After slowing its global expansion in 2023 and 2024, the Shanghai-based company has accelerated rollouts this year, shifting to a dealership network in new markets.
The company plans further expansion into Romania, Armenia, Czechia, Poland, Luxembourg and other markets in 2026, while Austria, Portugal, Belgium and Hungary are due to launch before year-end.
As reported in early June, sales of Nio and Firefly vehicles in Austria and Hungary are planned for the final months of 2025. A dedicated Firefly website is expected later this quarter.
The Budapest-based group represents 29 automotive brands in 16 countries, including other Chinese EV makers such as XPeng, BYD and MG.
Nio entered Europe in 2021 with Norway, followed by Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden in 2022.
