Nio Group‘s founder and CEO William Li said on Tuesday that new orders for the Onvo brand are “steadily increasing” — despite the lower delivery results seen in the final months of 2025.
As the brand prepares to launch the L80 — a five-seat variant of the L90 —, the chief executive stated that the new model will not compete with the other models of the group for orders, but contribute to growth.
The comments were made during the media Q&A session held at the company’s celebration of its one millionth vehicle produced.
The event took place in Hefei, where Nio‘s three EV plants are located.
By then, the executive also set an ambitious target for the Group’s 2026 deliveries.
The EV maker expects deliveries to grow 40-50% to between 456,000 and 489,000 vehicles this year.
Nio‘s three upcoming models in 2026 will be high-end mid-to-large SUVs, as the company intends to debut new iterations of the ES7 and ES9 models under its third-generation platform, alongside the Onvo L80.
The company has already begun pre-production of the luxury ES9, according to the CEO.
2025 Deliveries
The Nio Group — including its main premium brand, Onvo and Firefly — delivered a record 48,135 vehicles in December.
Of the total, more than 31,897 were Nio vehicles, marking the brand’s fourth consecutive month of growth.
In contrast, Onvo contributed just 9,154 units, representing its second month of sequential decline, after a record 17,342 EVs delivered in October.
Despite the launch of several limited editions for both its SUVs, the brand saw its first year-over-year drop in December.
Deliveries fell 13% from the same period a year before, when Onvo had registered over 10,000 units of the debut L60.
According to Li, Nio‘s “three brands worked in concert and delivered 326,028 vehicles [in 2025], a record high” for the group.
Within these figures, the Onvo L90 represented “43,439 cumulative deliveries within five months of launch, earning the title of annual sales champion among large pure-electric SUVs.”
The model reached 30,000 cumulative units in just 86 days, pulling the brand out of a slump that saw monthly volumes languish between 4,000 and 6,000 vehicles from January through July.
Alongside the more recently launched ES8 SUV, the two large SUVS have “reshaped the competitive landscape of their respective markets,” the group’s chief executive noted.
In the last quarter of 2025, the company focused on the production ramp-up of both the Nio ES8 and Onvo L90.
Nio has reduced the ES8’s estimated delivery waiting time for the third time — to between 17-18 weeks.
However, deliveries of Onvo‘s second model have slowed down after its first three months in the market — with deliveries dropping sharply from over 10,000 monthly units to just below 6,000 in November.
As of press time, December figures had not been disclosed by China’s Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
In its first full year in the market, Onvo delivered 107,808 vehicles — a third of the group’s total deliveries in 2025.
L80 Launch
Onvo had planned to launch a five-seat version of the L90 — designated the L80 — in the fourth quarter.
However, that debut has been pushed to 2026 as Nio prioritized ramping production of its three-row SUVs.
According to Nio‘s co-founder and President Lihong Qin in late August, the brand was prioritizing the rollout of the L90, its second model, over bringing a second vehicle to market.
“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,” Lihong said.
By then, Onvo‘s Head of Product Yu Bin also told local media that the brand wanted to “serve L90 users well” before setting a new timeline for the L80.
“Please give us some time to consider the appropriate timing for the launch of the Onvo L80,” he stated.
Onvo filed the L80 with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in June.
The filing showed that only the seating layout would vary from the three-row L90, which indicated that the model will be able to share most components with the six-(or seven-)seat SUV.
New Stores
President Lihong Qin, speaking alongside Li on Tuesday, said Nio will build stores in lower-tier markets that sell vehicles from all three brands — Nio, Onvo, and Firefly.
Each brand will maintain its own distinct positioning, while further integration will take place across middle- and back-end systems.
The first batch of these stores will open before the Spring Festival — also known as Chinese New Year — which takes place in February.
Nio’s 2026 business plan, according to Qin, is to “sell cars well, provide good service, and build infrastructure well.”
