Entry-level sedan will be the first car from Nio’s budget electric brand

Nio has been working on its third separate brand under the name of Project Firefly. The goal is very simple - offer budget-friendly electric cars starting at around $15,000. Since Nio itself offers upmarket vehicles with much higher prices, it makes sense for the company to make a clear distinction between the two lines.

A lot is happening at Nio lately, its second brand Alps is nearing the launch of its first EV, the Project Firefly started around the same time as Alps apparently, but it is developing a bit slower. The rumors were pointing to the first car being aimed at the Baojun KiWi EV customers.

That appears to be incorrect as the founder of Nio, despite being highly impressed with the KiWi EV after test driving it, confirmed during the earnings call that the company is not interested in entering the Mini EV market.

Nio’s deliveries are growing steadily, The ET7 based on the new 2.0 platform is already being shipped, Nio ES7 will begin deliveries on August 28 and the ET5 will begin shipping in September. Nio ES8, ES6 and EC6 are all available after getting cockpit software and hardware upgrades. The company is looking at 48,000 vehicles to be delivered in Q3.

The Project Firefly is clearly going to compete with Leapmotor, Neta and some other local Chinese brands, and it will be a 4-door sedan.

With the founder confirming the Mini EV market is out of interest and the $15,000 EVs being mostly hatchbacks or small SUVs, a sedan sounds like a good option, especially since this is one of the most popular car types in China with 2.99 million sedans sold across the country last year alone.

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