Just days after a new version of the ES7 was spotted being transported in China, Nio’s co-founder and President Lihong Qin confirmed on Sunday that the model will debut in the third quarter.
The brand’s flagship five seat SUV had been discontinued in China in the first half of 2025 due to weak demand.
The model will be one of two large SUVs the Nio brand plans to release this year.
The first generation ES7 was first launched in August 2022 and was one of the first models under Nio‘s second-generation NT2.0 platform.
In the first five months (up until the end of 2022), over 14,000 ES7s were registered, totaling about 11% of the brand’s deliveries that year.
The number was slashed in half in 2023, when 6,524 ES7s were sold.
Registrations plunged further in 2024, with the ES7 becoming Nio’s worst-selling model with only 1,874 units listed then.
Last year, registrations fell by a further 82% — 339 ES7s had been registered by May. No additional ES7 units were sold in China after that point, indicating that the model was quietly discontinued.
With the EC6 and ES6 SUVs receiving a refresh in 2025 — but not the ES7 — the latter quickly became uncompetitive.
Entry-Level Models
According to Nio‘s President, the third generation of the 5- and 6-series models are scheduled to be released next year.
The lineup includes the ET5 sedan, the ET5T station wagon, and the ES6 and EC6 SUVs.
The ES6 was originally launched in 2018, followed by the EC6 in 2020. Both models were revamped in 2023.
In late 2021, Nio unveiled the ET5, for which deliveries began in September 2022. The ET5T, the brand’s first tourer, was launched in 2023.
All four models saw minor upgrades being introduced in mid-2025.
Last year, Nio sold 43,242 ES6s, 17,318 EC6s, 46,877 ET5Ts and 16,421 ET5s.
The ET5T was the best-selling Nio brand model in 2025, followed by the new ES8 — which accounted for 45,290 vehicles — and the ES6, its cheapest SUV.
The EV maker delivered the 50,000th unit of its ES8 SUV over the weekend.
Other Models
The brand will launch its flagship ES9 SUV on April 10, as Qin stated during the same Q&A session.
The debut will take place weeks before the Beijing Auto Show, which is scheduled for later that month, and where the model will be showcased.
The President also revealed that, in late 2025, Nio sold an 8-year-old EP9 inventory unit for nearly $1.5 million.
The EP9, the company’s first ever produced vehicle, is an electric supercar that originally debuted in 2018.
This year, the Nio Group is additionally expected to debut the Onvo L80 — a five-seat version of the sub-brand’s best-selling L90.
The SUV was initially expected to launch last year.
However, as the EV maker focused on ramping up production of the L90 and ES8 SUVs late last year, its release has been pushed to this year.
No concrete timeline has been revealed yet.
