Nio’s sub-brand Onvo said this week orders for its L60 crossover reached a record high in August, as executives signaled that a refresh of the model is on the way.
Speaking at a media Q&A on the opening day of the Chengdu Auto Show, Onvo chief Fei Shen said efforts to lift production are a “systematic project” that requires careful coordination across multiple factories and suppliers.
“Sometimes, when you want to make big adjustments in a very short time, it is actually a bit difficult,” the brand’s head said.
“The overall business inertia is quite strong. Once your brand is there, it’s not possible that just because one person changes, the brand can immediately rise smoothly again,” he added.
Onvo replaced its chief Alan Ai in early April after the brand missed both January and March sales targets of delivering 16,000 and 20,000 units, respectively.
“With so much capacity already planned, you cannot raise all of it within one or two months. And even if you did, you still need the entire supply chain behind it,” Fei Shen warned.
Shen added that the L60 and L90, though produced at two different factories, share the same equipment system.
“I cannot say the supply chain for the L60 and L90 is completely decoupled. They are definitely coupled, but for us, it is two factories,” he said. “So we are trying from all aspects to continuously push forward, raising the production capacity of both the L90 and the L60.”
On the L60 specifically, Shen confirmed that a minor facelift is planned and will be announced “very soon.”
“Minor facelifts will be given to you at an appropriate time,” he stated. “We will announce this very soon, the facelift.”
He noted that the vehicle has already been developed “to an extreme” despite being Onvo’s first model.
“The L60 has enough of its own characteristics. Its second row is very spacious, something that other large SUVs do not have. Maybe there will be very local, minor adjustments, but people don’t need to focus on this. If you are going to buy the 60 now, buy the 60,” Shen said.
Unveiled in May 2024, the L60 is a mid-size crossover built on Nio’s 900V high-voltage platform, with a drag coefficient of 0.229 — which Nio said was the lowest of any production SUV — and CLTC efficiency of 92.3%.
It went on sale in September 2024, with deliveries beginning later that month.
The vehicle is offered in a standard 60 kWh version with 555 km of range priced from 206,900 yuan ($28,900), and a long-range 85 kWh version with 730 km of range from 235,900 yuan ($32,900).
After a strong start — Deutsche Bank estimated Onvo had secured more than 30,000 firm orders last September — the L60 struggled in late 2024, with cancellations leading to missed targets in early 2025.
The brand had aimed for 16,000 deliveries in January and 20,000 in March but fell well short.
Orders have since rebounded. Shen said L60 bookings in August rose 30% month-on-month to a record high, supported by strong showroom traffic from the launch of the larger L90.
Executives also confirmed that the Onvo L80, originally scheduled to start deliveries in late 2025, will now not launch until 2026.
“Onvo needs to concentrate on doing a small number of important things well. Recently, we have made the Onvo L90 the short-term top priority for the entire Onvo brand,” Nio co-founder and president Lihong Qin said.
The L90, launched on July 31 and in deliveries since August 1, surpassed 10,000 units by today — the opening day of the Chengdu Auto Show.
A seven-seat version is entering showrooms this month, with deliveries due in late September.
