Nio's upcoming brand Alps will launch with an SUV this year

Nio is planning on launching two additional brands in its portfolio, to bring more affordable options to the market than its main brand's. It's a strategy that's been tried successfully many times over in the mobile world, so, since EVs are more like gadgets than any other cars before them, why not? The obvious benefit here is that the main Nio brand stays 'premium' in the eyes of prospective customers.

The two new brands are codenamed Alps and Firefly (these may or may not end up being the actual commercial names). Alps is said to be targeting the family car market, with prices between CNY 200,000 ($28,100) and CNY 300,000 ($42,100), which positions it just underneath Nio itself. According to a new report out of China, the first Alps model will be an SUV.

This should hit the market and start deliveries sometime in the second half of this year, following the brand's official introduction before the end of March. The development of this EV is apparently going very well, with the first test vehicle already produced back in August last year.

On the other hand, Firefly, which will also be launched in Europe next year, will target the under-CNY 200,000 ($28,100) market in China. According to Nio president Qin Lihong, Firefly will at first offer a smaller car similar in dimensions to the Mini.

Interestingly, Nio itself won't launch any new models this year, focusing on sales of its current range.

Via