Nio‘s Vice President of Design for the Onvo sub-brand has left the company and joined Ford Motor Co., marking the second senior design departure from the struggling mass-market brand in less than a week.
Car Design News reported on Tuesday that Pires will replace Max Wolff as head of design for Ford China and Asia.
The exit comes days after Onvo posted its weakest sales month since deliveries began in September 2024 and as the brand enters its first international markets.
Onvo Tenure
Pires joined Nio in June 2022 as VP of Global Design for the sub-brand, which was still operating under stealth mode at the time.
Nio‘s SVP of Design Kris Tomasson is responsible for all Nio Group models and brand design, including the logo when the company switched its name from ‘NextEV’ to Nio a decade ago.
At Onvo, Pires led design strategy and execution for the L60 five-seat SUV competing with Tesla’s Model Y, the L90 three-row SUV, and the upcoming L80 which shares most of its exterior design with the L90 — according to recent filings with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Career Background
Prior to Onvo, Pires spent twelve years at Bentley Motors as Head of Exterior Design, where he was responsible for the Continental GT, Continental GTC, and Flying Spur first and second generations.
In mid-2011, he joined Italdesign to work on Advanced Design for Volkswagen Group brands including VW, Audi, SEAT, Škoda, Porsche, and Bentley.
He stayed approximately eighteen months before moving from Italy to Munich to become Head of Advanced Design and Exterior Manager for Audi models including the A6, A7, and A5.
In January 2020, Pires joined Great Wall Motors as Senior VP of Design, where he worked for two and a half years before joining Nio.
Ford Predecessor
The appointment marks the end of a seven-year tenure for outgoing design director Max Wolff, who first joined Ford in 2011 to head up Lincoln design.
In 2019, Wolff was appointed design director for China and the International Markets Group, leading the studio in Shanghai.
Second Design Departure
As reported by EV late last week, Benwadih Adil, exterior design director for Onvo, left to join Stellantis-backed Leapmotor as director of its newly established European Advanced Design Center, the designer announced on LinkedIn.
Adil’s departure marks the loss of one of Nio‘s longest-serving design team members, who first joined the Shanghai-based EV maker in 2016 — two years before its first mass-produced model, the ES8, rolled off the production line.
Tomasson remains as Senior Vice President of Design for Nio Group, responsible for the main Nio brand and the Firefly sub-brand.
Onvo Sales Plunge
Despite having added a second model to its lineup last August, Onvo reported its worst month since launch with 3,481 vehicles delivered in January — a 62% decline from December and a 41% drop from a year earlier.
Last month’s result represents global deliveries, with exact domestic figures only being disclosed by the China Passenger Car Association later this month.
Nio Group’s Onvo brand officially arrived in its first international market last Saturday, a year and a half after starting deliveries in China of its debut model.
Later this year, Onvo will also expand to Costa Rica, marking the first market in the Americas for Nio Group.
Nio plans to introduce Onvo to European markets starting in 2027, founder and CEO William Li said during a visit to the region last November.
