Nio announced over the weekend that it opened its first showroom in the Americas in San José, Costa Rica — the company’s first market in the Western Hemisphere and the first outside China where all three of its brands are available simultaneously.
The Shanghai-headquartered Group inaugurated the showroom in partnership with local distributor Horizontes Cielo Azul, becoming the first overseas location to showcase all three brands — Nio, Onvo, and Firefly — under one roof.
Models and Lineup
Consumers in Costa Rica can now purchase five models across the three brands: the Nio ET5 Touring, EL6, and EL8 from the premium Nio marque, the Onvo L60 SUV, and Firefly‘s debut model.
The EL6 and EL8 correspond to the ES6 and ES8 in the Chinese market. The different naming matches the European strategy due to a trademark dispute with Audi.
The three-row SUV Onvo L90, the brand’s second model, will begin pre-sales at Costa Rica’s annual auto show EXPOMOVIL on April 16.
No other overseas market has launched with all three Nio Group brands simultaneously.
Singapore, which opened earlier in 2026, initially received only Firefly. European markets carry only Nio-branded vehicles and, in some cases, Firefly.
According to the management, the Onvo brand is planned to debut in Europe next year.
Distribution Model
Nio entered international markets in October 2021 through a direct sales model, starting with Norway and expanding to Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden a year later.
The company has recently shifted to an asset-light national general distributor model for all new markets.
Costa Rica is the clearest expression of this strategy: a local partner operates the store, carries inventory risk, and manages the customer relationship. Nio provides the brand, product, and technology platform.
As exclusively reported by EV earlier this month, Nio has started preparing to transition its remaining direct-sales European markets toward a partner-based approach as well.
Americas Ambitions
Costa Rica is the first step in a broader Americas strategy.
Firefly brand chief Daniel Jin outlined plans at Auto Shanghai in April 2025 to enter 16 countries, with Uruguay and Colombia included in the original roadmap.
At the Guangzhou Auto Show in November, Jin told reporters — including EV — that Firefly was 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 March 30.
Speaking with Nikkei at the Bangkok Motor Show last week, Jin said Firefly aims to enter 20 to 30 countries this year while admitting that domestic sales have fallen “considerably” as the brand continues its global push.
Founder and CEO William Li set a broader target of 40 countries and regions by end of 2026 in an internal letter in January.
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.”
The company has no confirmed plans for the United States.
In mid last year, EV exclusively reported that Nio had halted its US expansion plan and let go of the Chief Business Officer for the market.
Nio delivered 326,028 vehicles across all three brands in 2025, up 46.9% year-on-year, and reported its first-ever quarterly net profit in Q4 2025.
First-quarter 2026 guidance projects 80,000 to 83,000 units with March numbers scheduled to be announced on Wednesday, the first day of April.
