Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Onvo, the sub-brand of EV maker Nio, had delivered its entire order backlog shortly after the Chinese New Year in February, leaving new orders as the sole source of deliveries, its chief executive said in a recent interview.
Speaking with Chinese media outlet Huxiu, Onvo CEO Alan Ai said the company entered 2025 with a substantial backlog but saw cancellations accelerate in mid-December, affecting deliveries in January and February.
“At that time, we still had a huge order backlog. But in mid-December, cancellations accelerated due to the factors I mentioned,” Ai said.
Onvo delivered over 10,000 vehicles in December but saw deliveries drop to 5,912 in January and 4,049 in February. For March, insurance data shows 2,370 units sold between March 3 and 16, making it difficult to reach its goal of more than 20,000 deliveries this month.
Nio Group will report its fourth quarter earnings results on Friday where the founder and CEO William Li is expected to provide an update on both sub-brands under the Group.
Ai said the realization that the March target was becoming difficult came around Chinese New Year in late January, when Onvo noticed that most deliveries were from new orders rather than the backlog.
“After the holiday, most deliveries were from new orders rather than the backlog,” Ai said, suggesting that by early February, the company had fulfilled all outstanding orders and has since then been delivering based on new orders it receives.
Ai identified two main factors behind the order cancellations.
“We initially planned to deliver 20,000 units, but many customers scheduled for January deliveries wanted their cars before the end of December to qualify for the 15,000-yuan government EV subsidy,” he explained.
“Since it was unclear whether this policy would be extended into 2025, there was a rush to take delivery before year-end. We were unprepared for this, leading to lost orders.”
Ai also pointed to a broader loss of market confidence, saying that many potential buyers of the Onvo L60 SUV opted to wait and observe rather than purchase immediately.
“When launching a new car—especially a family car—many customers prefer not to buy the first batch. They wait to see user feedback and spot the car on the road. If we hadn’t lost those December orders, our momentum in January and February would have been much stronger,” he said.
The executive had promised that he would step down if the targets weren’t met. However, Ai says now the brand “is like my own child” adding that he “won’t give up.”
“I’ve thought about this a lot. A fragile ego is the last thing Onvo needs. I take criticism as motivation and aim to improve,” he stated. “It would be easy to walk away, but that would be quitting halfway. LeDao is like my own child—I built it from scratch. I won’t give up.”
Asked how he will improve Onvo’s situation, Alan Ai said “results are the only answer” guaranteeing he will “keep focusing on product and service improvements and ensure LeDao continues on an upward trajectory.”
New Models
Onvo said Wednesday it will release a physical smart key for the L60 and future models on March 24, priced at 399 yuan. Customers who take delivery between March 24 and April 24 can purchase it at a discounted price of 339 yuan, the brand stated.
Onvo recently clarified that it has no plans to introduce a single-pedal driving mode for the L60 SUV, a feature available on most Nio-brand vehicles in Europe via over-the-air updates.
The company is preparing to launch two new models later this year, including the L90, an SUV expected to debut in the second quarter and go on sale in the third quarter. Onvo first released an official image of the L90 on February 25, the same day Li Auto began teasing its first all-electric SUV, the Li i8.
