A few days ago, the spy photos of the road test in Europe of the first model (NIO Firefly) of the third brand under NIO with the code name “Firefly” were exposed online. It is understood that Firefly is positioned as a “boutique small car”, complementing the current NIO brand. It is expected that the new car will be launched in 2025 and go on sale simultaneously in the European and Chinese markets.
Judging from the spy photo map of the road test exposed this time, the new car is still in a state of heavy camouflage. Judging from the overall shape, the front face of the new car is relatively square, and the two headlight groups on both sides adopt a circular design with a very retro shape. On the side of the body, the new car adopts a hatchback body structure with a compact shape and a short front and rear suspension design, and is equipped with 18-inch wheels. It is expected that the new car may be positioned as a compact SUV model. In addition, the new car is also equipped with multiple cameras and sensors on the outside, and it is expected to provide a relatively high level of driving assistance. At the rear of the car, a spoiler is adopted above the tailgate of the new car, and the interior of the taillights on both sides presents a “Y” letter shape, and the overall visual effect is relatively sporty.
For the interior part, judging from the spy photo map, it is expected that the new car will be equipped with a small-sized liquid crystal instrument and a large-sized floating central control screen. In terms of power, the new car is expected to be equipped with pure electric power and adopt a battery swap mode.
As the information about this car is still very limited at present, it is also uncertain whether this brand will finally be named “Firefly”. More news still needs to wait for the official disclosure, and “Auto Industry Focus” will also continue to pay attention later.
On May 15 this year, the new sub-brand under NIO, LeDao Auto, was officially released. The new sub-brand is positioned in the family market, which is different from the high-end positioning of the NIO brand. At present, the pre-sale price of the first model of this brand – LeDao L60 has been announced, starting from 219,900 yuan, and the new car will go on sale in September and will be benchmarked against Tesla Model Y after going on the market.
At the LeDao Auto launch conference, Qin Lihong, the co-founder and president of NIO, revealed that the original plan of NIO’s third brand, Firefly, was to be released in the second and third quarters of this year, but considering the brand sequence issue, the brand was postponed to the second quarter of next year and went on sale simultaneously in Europe and China.
Judging from the positioning of the “Firefly” brand, its positioning will be lower than that of the LeDao brand. According to previous revelations, it is expected that this brand will mainly focus on the small car and mini car markets, and the price is in the range of 100,000 to 200,000 yuan. In fact, whether it is the LeDao brand or the brand with the code name “Firefly”, the appearance of both means that NIO has begun to develop downward. For NIO, the LeDao brand undertakes the important task of generating volume and making money, and for the brand with the code name “Firefly”, NIO CEO Li Bin previously revealed that the brand is positioned as a “boutique small car” in China, with a pricing of about tens of thousands of yuan, similar to the relationship between BMW and MINI, and Mercedes and Smart.
Entering the second half of the year, including new force auto companies such as XPeng Motors have begun to lay out sub-brands. “Auto Industry Focus” believes that behind the new force brand’s deep cultivation in more segmented markets is also to face the intensification of market competition pressure. With the intensification of competition in the field of new energy vehicles, major auto companies are all facing a difficult survival battle. As for whether the new brand of NIO can create surprises in the segmented market in the future remains to be observed
