GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) – Nio on Saturday unveiled a cheaper brand called Firefly that it touted as a rival to Mercedes’ Smart and BMW’s Mini in the Chinese electric vehicle maker’s latest bid to broaden its customer base and boost sales.
CEO William Li announced the new brand at an annual company event in Guangzhou and said pre-sales would begin immediately with prices starting at 148,800 yuan ($20,394).
He showed off three Firefly cars in lavender, lemon and beige and said the car offered a tight turning circle of 4.7 meters and autonomous parking technology.
Customers can place orders through the Firefly app, which said the cars would be officially launched in April.
“We are building the Firefly car to be smarter than Mini and more Mini than smart cars,” Li said.
BMW’s pure electric Mini also retails from 148,800 yuan in China, while Mercedes’ Smart #1 car retails from 154,900 yuan.
Domestic brands that Firefly will compete against include BYD’s Seal and Xpeng’s Mona.
Nio, one of China’s biggest EV players by sales, has combated rising price competition in China by launching cheaper models this year, after unveiling another model called “Onvo” earlier in May.
Nio, which limits European sales to hundreds of vehicles a year, originally planned the Firefly brand to grow its share in Europe, its executives previously said.
It would have taken on Renault, Stellantis’ Fiat and Peugeot and BMW’s Mini in a European small car segment with annual demand for 4 million cars.
But the European Commission in October imposed an additional tariff of more than 20% on Nio’s cars, including Firefly EVs exported from China to the region over the next five years. Analysts said this will largely undermine the brand’s price competitiveness.
Li did not provide detailed plans for where Firefly would be sold at the event.
Nio has targets to double revenue by 2025 and reach breakeven by 2026, but said this month that revenue growth was two years behind schedule.
Reuters reported in November that Nio planned to launch its first extended-range hybrid model under the Firefly brand in 2026, for sale only in overseas markets.
($1 = 7.2961 Chinese Yuan Renminbi)
($1 = 7.2961 Chinese Yuan Renminbi)
(Reporting by Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Jason Neely)
