Nio plans to expand its mass-market Onvo sub-brand with two to three new models in a lower price segment as it targets 8-10% market share, Morgan Stanley said Tuesday after meeting with founder and CEO William Li.
The product roadmap update comes as Onvo prepares to enter its second full year of deliveries following a turbulent 2025 that saw weak initial demand and a leadership change.
L60 Launch
Onvo was unveiled in May 2024 by Li and Alan Ai, a former Disney and WeWork executive who joined Nio in February 2021 to lead the sub-brand’s operations.
The company revealed its first model, a five-seat SUV named L60, in May 2024.
Aimed at rivaling the Tesla Model Y, the SUV carried a pre-sales price starting from 219,900 yuan ($31,600), 12% below Tesla‘s model at the time.
First deliveries took place in China in September 2024.
After a strong production and delivery ramp-up, the cancellation of orders in the final weeks of the year, highly impacted delivery figures for early 2025.
Despite having set ambitious sales targets in November 2024, Ai was ultimately let go and replaced by Fei Shen, one of Nio‘s earliest employees and former head of ‘Nio Power.’
To increase demand, the L60 was refreshed in September 2025 with deliveries of the new iteration beginning in late October.
L90 Launch
Shen was chosen by top management to lead Onvo as the brand prepared to reveal its second model: a three-row SUV named L90.
The new model was pre-launched in July 2025 with demand surpassing management’s expectations. Nio had prepared more than 20,000 units for immediate ordering at launch.
The L90 officially launched on the last day of July, available in six-seater and seven-seater configurations with prices starting at 265,800 yuan ($38,200), or 179,800 yuan ($25,800) with the battery subscription option.
Deliveries began on the first day of August across dozens of cities in China.
After early signs of strong demand due to lower-than-expected pricing, Onvo delivered over 30,000 L90 units in the first three months.
Deliveries peaked in October at 11,722 units but were nearly halved in November before dropping another 30% in December.
The company stopped displaying delivery waiting times on its website in mid-October, directing customers to delivery advisors for estimates, EV reported at the time.
Morgan Stanley Note
Morgan Stanley analyst Tim Hsiao said Nio plans to roll out two to three Onvo models in the 150,000-200,000 yuan ($21,600-$28,800) segment in the long run, targeting 8-10% market share.
“With BaaS subscription, management believes it can reach potential customers in the sub-Rmb150k segment,” Hsiao wrote, suggesting upcoming models acquired via the battery subscription program could start at approximately $21,600.
“Mr Li also highlighted that enhancing the brand awareness and sales efficiency of Onvo remains critical near term,” the analyst added.
Hsiao reiterated an Overweight rating and $7.00 price target on Nio, implying 52% upside.
2026 Product Roadmap
Shen said Sunday at an offline event that the L60 and L90 will receive annual facelifts.
The L90 will add a LiDAR-equipped version in the second quarter while the L60 will stick to a pure-vision solution for its intelligent driving system.
A regulatory filing published earlier this month by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology provided the first official look at the LiDAR-equipped L90, showing the model will incorporate a sensor unit at the front center of the roof, similar to Nio vehicles.
Shen confirmed the LiDAR variant would be priced higher than current versions.
The L80 SUV will also launch this year after being delayed from late 2025 as the brand focused on ramping up the L90. Unlike the L60, the L80 will be available in both pure-vision and LiDAR versions.
Onvo plans to launch the L90’s under-floor trunk freezer before June, and Nio Radio will integrate into Onvo infotainment systems in June, Shen added.
No Hardware Upgrades for Existing Models
Shen confirmed Sunday that Onvo will not upgrade the chips or cameras on existing L60 and L90 models.
Current owners of vision-only versions will not receive hardware enhancements even as the company prepares to launch the LiDAR-equipped L90, the brand chief said.
The comments came weeks after Shen sought to reassure existing owners following news that Onvo would add LiDAR sensors to the L90, a shift from the vision-based approach the sub-brand had promoted since launch.
The focus remains on optimizing intelligent driving and cockpit functions with existing hardware, according to Shen.
Earlier this month, the brand chief said Onvo would release a “major iteration” of its pure-vision driver assistance system after the Chinese New Year holiday.
