Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio has denied reports suggesting that the UK will be the first European market for its sub-brand, Onvo.
Automotive News Europe reported on Thursday that Onvo’s product experience chief Eric Yu had confirmed the UK as the sub-brand’s entry point into Europe due to the absence of import tariffs on China-made EVs.
When approached by EV, a Nio spokesperson refuted the report. Nio declined to comment on Automotive News Europe’s claims that the expansion is tied to Onvo achieving a production milestone of 30,000 units per month by March 2025.
Onvo’s president Alan Ai and Nio’s founder and CEO William Li have consistently stated over the last few months that production output by March 2025 is expected to be 20,000 units per month—not 30,000.
The sub-brand, which is positioned to compete with Tesla’s Model Y, plans to deliver 10,000 vehicles this month as part of a ramp-up strategy. In November, Onvo delivered 5,082 vehicles, up 17.6% from October’s 4,319 units.
Nio, which operates two EV manufacturing plants in Hefei and has a third one under construction, is currently subject to a 30.7% import tariff in the EU, up from the previous 10% import duty on vehicles.
Meanwhile, Onvo continues to grow domestically in China. From December 9 to 15, the brand registered 1,700 units, marking its second-best weekly performance since deliveries began on September 28.
The brand’s chief Alan Ai has recently stated that if the December and March delivery goals are not met, he will step down.
Onvo, which unveiled the L60 in May, is preparing to launch two new family-oriented SUVs in 2025. Speaking at a media briefing in Shanghai last week, Nio’s founder and CEO William Li said deliveries of the new models are expected to begin in the third and fourth quarters of next year.
One of the upcoming models will be a six-seater electric SUV designed for larger families, while the other will be a five-seater SUV larger than the current L60.
Onvo announced last Friday that L60 has scored a 5-star safety rating under the 2024 China New Car Assessment Program (C-NCAP).
Addressing concerns over infrastructure readiness, Onvo’s head of user and service operations, Xia Qinghua, said earlier this month that while over 1,000 battery swap stations have been prepared for Onvo vehicles, only 700 to 800 stations are currently operational due to “limited battery production capacity at the moment.”
“We prioritize fulfilling long-pending vehicle orders by allocating batteries for deliveries first. However, efforts to equip battery swap stations with Onvo-compatible batteries will accelerate in the future,” the executive added in a video statement shared on social media.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
