Onvo, Nio Inc.‘s family-focused brand, delivered 8,383 vehicles in October, its fifth straight monthly decline, leaving its three-model SUV lineup only 645 units ahead of the company’s single-model Firefly brand.
The figure was down 51.7% from 17,342 a year earlier and 4.3% from 8,763 in September, Nio Inc. said. It was Onvo’s lowest monthly total since April, when it delivered 5,352 before the launch of the L80.
The year-earlier figure was the brand’s best month yet, delivered in the third month of sales of the L90 three-row SUV.
Firefly, which sells one small hatchback, delivered a record 7,738 vehicles in the same month.
Five Months of Declines
Onvo’s deliveries peaked this year at 12,029 in May, the month its L80 and refreshed L90 hit the road. They have fallen every month since, to 11,743 in June, 10,155 in July, 8,810 in August, 8,763 in September and 8,383 in October.
October was also the brand’s third straight year-over-year decline, after deliveries fell from 16,434 in August 2025 and 15,246 in September 2025, when the L90 three-row SUV had just entered the market.
Onvo has delivered 78,574 vehicles in the first ten months of 2026, down about 9.5% from 86,860 in the same period last year. Its year-to-date total was still slightly higher than in 2025 at the end of September, according to Nio Inc.’s monthly figures.
To match its 2025 total of 107,808, Onvo would need 29,234 deliveries in November and December, or about 14,600 a month, above any month it has posted this year.
Comparisons get easier from here. Onvo’s deliveries fell to 11,794 in November 2025 and 9,154 in December 2025 after the L90’s launch surge, which would narrow the year-over-year gap if October’s pace holds.
The brand accounted for 24.5% of Nio Inc.’s October deliveries, down from 42.9% a year earlier. A year earlier, Onvo delivered more vehicles than the Nio brand itself, at 17,342 against 17,143.
Three Models
Onvo sells three battery-electric SUVs that support Nio’s battery-swap network.
The L60 midsize SUV started deliveries in September 2024 as the brand’s first model, and an updated version arrived in June. The L90 three-row SUV, which drove the brand’s record deliveries in the second half of 2025, was refreshed in April and passed 60,000 deliveries in July.
The L80, a large five-seat SUV that shares the L90’s platform and dimensions, was launched on May 15 at the brand’s second anniversary, priced from 242,800 yuan ($36,500). The L90 starts at 265,800 yuan ($40,000), a gap of 23,000 yuan ($3,500) for the third row of seats.
Onvo added a paint and wheels package to the L80 in September as demand for the model fell.
In September, the L60 was Onvo’s best-selling model with 3,181 units, ahead of the L80 at 2,915 and the L90 at 2,667, according to CPCA data. Nio does not break out Onvo deliveries by model.
The company said the L60 ranked first among midsize SUVs for one-year value retention at 74.3%, while the L90 ranked second among large new energy SUVs at 76.4%, citing its own data.
200,000 Milestone
Onvo reached 200,000 cumulative deliveries on October 8, about two years after its first L60 handover, the company said. The milestone vehicle was an L90.
“Behind the number 200,000 are 200,000 real acts of trust, in daily commutes, weekend outings, family trips and every safe arrival home,” Onvo President Shen Fei said at the time. “Onvo will keep making good products and providing good service, and accompany more families on longer journeys.”
The brand has now 374 service centers in 213 Chinese cities.
Onvo’s weakness came as Nio Inc.’s total deliveries fell 15.2% year over year to 34,246, the company’s first year-over-year decline since February 2024.
The premium Nio brand delivered 18,125 vehicles, its lowest since February but still up 5.7% from a year earlier, while Firefly set a monthly record.
Firefly Closes the Gap
Onvo’s lead over Firefly has narrowed sharply this year. In May, Onvo delivered more than twice as many vehicles as Firefly, 12,029 against 5,663.
In October, the gap was 645 units, the narrowest since April. Firefly’s share of Nio Inc.’s deliveries reached a record 22.6%, against Onvo’s 24.5%.
The two brands were closer only twice this year, in February, when Onvo delivered 2,981 vehicles against Firefly’s 2,657, and in April, when the figures were 5,352 and 4,980.
What Comes Next
Nio Inc. Founder and CEO Chief Executive Officer William Li told analysts on the company’s second-quarter earnings call in September that “the challenge is more about its overall brand awareness,” which he said was “maybe comparable with NIO’s awareness around five to six years ago.”
Li said Onvo will launch “a major strategic new product that will also help to enrich our existing product lineup” next year. The company has pinned the brand’s recovery on that 2027 model.
He did not name the model. A supplier document that circulated online in September referred to a project called “Qinling Onvo L50,” which Nio has not confirmed.
Nio co-founder and President Qin Lihong said a day after the call that Onvo “still hasn’t done well enough”.
Li has set a long-term goal for Onvo to account for 55% of the group’s sales, with the Nio brand at 35% and Firefly at 10%, a split he repeated on the first-quarter earnings call this year.
Li set a fourth-quarter target of “an average volume of over 40,000 units per month” for the whole company, which delivered 34,246 vehicles in October.
Onvo’s slowdown has been a key factor in that shortfall. Its decline of about 9,000 units from a year earlier was larger than Nio Inc.’s total year-over-year drop of about 6,150.
Shen’s Pledge
Shen, previously head of Nio’s energy business, took over Onvo in April 2025 after former President Alan Ai stepped down. The brand had previously targeted 20,000 deliveries a month, a level it has never reached.
“Setting flags and shouting slogans is not my style,” Shen told Chinese outlet Jiupai News at the time. He said he had asked each member of his team to sell one more car than the month before.
In early June, Shen said Onvo’s share of its segments had grown every month for the previous half year and that “sales will definitely pick up,” according to an interview with Chinese outlet Leiphone.
“I’ve always said that making good on what the boss has boasted about is our highest mission,” he said. He described an ideal sales mix of 40% for the L60 and 60% for the L80 and L90 combined.
Market Context
China’s passenger-car retail sales fell 26% year over year to 1.145 million units from October 1 to 25, according to the China Passenger Car Association, with new energy vehicle retail sales down 13% to 753,000 units.
The association’s brand- and model-level data for October has not yet been released. Nio Inc. has not published a model breakdown for Onvo’s October deliveries.
Onvo’s main competitors in China’s family SUV segment include Li Auto, which delivered 29,025 vehicles in October, its lowest since February, according to the company.
