Nio Inc.‘s founder and CEO William Li expects Onvo to become the group’s majority seller, targeting the sub-brand to eventually account for 55% of total vehicle sales under a long-term 35-55-10 brand mix.
The comments were made in a media briefing, less than 48 hours after the company reported its first-quarter earnings call.
During the session, Li stressed that the breakdown refers only to volume structure and does not represent revenue or profit distribution across the group.
Focusing on Firefly, the founder highlighted that the sub-brand should remain “small and distinctive” rather than chase the high-volume territory typical of low-cost compact cars.
The company is not aiming for the 30,000-to-40,000-monthly-unit range typical of mainstream low-cost compact cars, he said.
Lifting deliveries from the current 5,000–6,000 units per month to around 8,000–9,000 — equivalent to roughly 100,000 vehicles annually — would already be considered a strong result.
The 100,000-unit figure echoes a target previously laid out by Firefly brand chief Daniel Jin, aligning the CEO’s positioning with the operational goalpost the brand has already been working toward.
Refresh Already in Deliveries
During the earnings call itself, Li framed Firefly‘s near-term roadmap around the recently launched refresh of the hatchback — which added new ADAS features and a power upgrade over the original iteration.
“For the Firefly brand, the refreshed model has already started the deliveries in Q2, bringing comprehensive upgrades in powertrain performance and smart experiences,” Li told analysts.
The refreshed Firefly now delivers 120 kW of peak motor power — up from 105 kW — trimming its 0-100 km/h sprint to 7.9 seconds.
