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NIO ET7
Flagship full-size electric sedan with dual-motor AWD, 653 hp, and swappable battery packs. Positions NIO against the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes EQS in the premium sedan segment.
NIOfirefly
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Boutique premium compact EV and NIO's third, entry-level brand - positioned below NIO and ONVO and serving as the group's lead export model. The 2026 upgrade (launched April 7) bumped power to a 120 kW (161 hp) motor while keeping a 42.1 kWh battery and ~420 km CLTC range. firefly is NIO's spearhead in international markets, with sales across Europe (Norway, Netherlands, Belgium and more) plus Singapore.
Latest update Sep 18, 2026
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Current status
Launched April 2025; 2026 refresh launched April 7, 2026. Crossed 80,000 cumulative deliveries on September 5, 2026 in Hefei, about 17 months after first handovers, after 5,852 August deliveries (+34.7% YoY) and 40,795 year-to-date (+180.3% YoY). Now in 10+ overseas markets including Singapore, the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, and Thailand (launched March 5, 2026), firefly unveiled its first right-hand-drive model at the 2026 Hong Kong Auto Show on June 18, 2026, and was the lead brand in NIO's first simultaneous three-brand overseas launch in Costa Rica (opened March 26, 2026, NIO's first Americas market); NIO still targets roughly 40 countries for firefly and 100,000 cumulative deliveries by year-end. On September 18, 2026 SAMR posted recall S2026M0114V for 686 firefly cars built March 20-April 2, 2026 over possible steering-column torque-sensor harness interference.
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Specifications4
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Upcoming milestones5
Announced next steps from NIO that mention firefly.
Full-year 2026
Deliver NIO's first full year of positive operating profit
NIO's financial target for full-year 2026 is a positive non-GAAP operating profit, backed by positive free-cash-flow generation in the second half. The company has now posted positive non-GAAP operating profit for three straight quarters - Q4 2025, Q1 2026 (RMB66.8M) and Q2 2026 (RMB206.9M) - but the streak is a non-GAAP one: GAAP operations were positive only in Q1 2026 and swung back to a RMB347.2M loss in Q2 (GAAP net loss RMB528.0M), with management citing a memory-chip (DRAM/HBM) cost headwind averaging roughly RMB14,000/vehicle as a key drag alongside a Q2 revenue and delivery miss versus guidance. NIO guided Q3 2026 deliveries of 108,000-111,000 (revenue RMB33.285B-RMB34.051B) and non-GAAP SG&A/revenue falling to 10-11% in H2 from ~13% in H1, with vehicle margin expected to hold near 18.5%. Hitting the annual target - amid a domestic price war in which only a handful of Chinese EV brands are sustainably profitable, and now against rising memory-chip costs - would mark NIO's turn from a perennial cash-burn story to sustained profitability, powered by ONVO and firefly volume. Q3 results are still due around November 2026.
2026
Scale firefly to 40+ countries
Firefly is now live in 10+ overseas markets - including Singapore, Thailand (launched March 5, 2026), the Netherlands, Norway, and Belgium - and led NIO's first simultaneous three-brand overseas launch in Costa Rica (opened March 26, 2026, NIO's first Americas market, via distributor Horizontes Cielo Azul). It also unveiled its first right-hand-drive model at the 2026 Hong Kong Auto Show on June 18, 2026, ahead of confirmed 2026 entries into the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Cumulative deliveries crossed 80,000 on September 5, 2026 (August volume 5,852, YTD 40,795). NIO still targets roughly 40 countries and regions for firefly by year-end 2026 and 100,000 cumulative firefly deliveries, prioritizing markets where Chinese EVs face minimal tariffs. No new country launch has been announced since the Costa Rica opening. The September 18, 2026 SAMR recall of 686 March-April 2026 cars is a China manufacturing issue, not an overseas market change.
Q4 2026
Complete the 686-vehicle firefly steering-harness recall
Under SAMR recall S2026M0114V, filed September 18, 2026, NIO must inspect 686 firefly cars built from March 20 to April 2, 2026 for steering-column torque-sensor wiring-harness interference with the sensor rotor, and replace the harness where interference is found. Vehicles already repaired need no further work. Watch completion of owner notifications via app, SMS and phone, how many of the 686 actually need a harness swap versus inspection-only, and whether SAMR posts a close-out.
By year-end 2026
Roll out Gen-5 swap stations toward a 4,500-4,600 year-end network
After firefly beta-tested prototype Gen-5 hardware across six cities from June 25, 2026, NIO's first true customer-facing fifth-generation stations went live as planned on August 7, 2026. As of September 18, 2026 NIO Power counted 4,090 swap stations and 5,282 charging stations. Large-scale deployment remains the H2 2026 focus - NIO targets roughly 100+ new Gen-5 stations per month from September, rising toward 150+/month in Q4. On September 18 NIO Power also signed a virtual-power-plant plan with China Huaneng to put swap stations into electricity trading. NIO plans to add 1,000+ stations in 2026 and still guides to roughly 4,500-4,600 total swap stations by year-end.
2028-2029
Right-size Europe to an asset-light, distributor-led model without exiting the market
Target2028-2029 (Onvo Europe debut); late 2027-early 2028 (NT3 models)
On a September 15, 2026 Europe visit, founder William Li said operational changes are not an exit: NIO will keep running directly in selected markets while leaning more on local distributors, and confirmed that family brand Onvo will enter Europe in 2028-2029. That restates the mid-2026 retrenchment: Hamburg Nio House closed July 20, Weiterstadt service hub shut days later, deputy Germany chief Christian Wiegand departed July 31, and next-generation NT3 models remain off the table until late 2027 or early 2028. Combined European registrations (NIO brand plus firefly) totaled just 88 vehicles in August 2026 (-24.1% YoY). Distributor partnerships have already opened markets such as Greece (Athens Nio House with Motodynamics, June 2026). Watch whether the hybrid model and the delayed Onvo debut stabilize the region before NT3 arrives.
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In the news5
NIO extends HERE streaming maps across its European lineup
HERE Technologies said on September 23 it expanded its European mapping partnership with NIO beyond firefly to the full regional lineup, naming the ET5, ET7, EL6, EL7 and EL8. NIO is adopting HERE streaming maps for continuous road-network, traffic-regulation and point-of-interest updates. The companies said they will explore using that data for Navigation on Autopilot and NIO World Model work on European roads, without giving a launch date.
NIO recalls 686 Firefly cars over steering harness
China's State Administration for Market Regulation said on September 18 that NIO Auto Technology (Anhui) had filed recall S2026M0114V covering 686 firefly battery-electric cars built from March 20 to April 2, 2026. Manufacturing-process variation may let the steering-column torque-sensor wiring harness interfere with the sensor rotor, which in extreme cases can trigger abnormal sensor signals, light the electronic-steering warning and cut power-steering assist. NIO will inspect the vehicles free of charge and replace the harness where interference is found; cars already repaired need no further work, and owners will be contacted by app, SMS or phone.
NIO delivers 35,836 vehicles in August, up 14.5%
NIO delivered 35,836 vehicles in August 2026, up 14.5% year over year, split across 21,174 NIO-brand, 8,810 ONVO-brand and 5,852 firefly-brand units. Year-to-date deliveries reached 262,893, up 57.9% year over year, with cumulative deliveries hitting 1,260,485 as of August 31.
NIO deliveries jump 71% in July, top 1.2 million cumulative
NIO delivered 35,934 vehicles in July 2026, up 71% year over year, split across 20,008 NIO-brand, 10,155 ONVO, and 5,771 firefly units. Cumulative deliveries passed 1,224,649 as of July 31, and the company opened its 4,000th battery-swap station during the month.
NIO delivers 130,000th third-gen ES8 as five-seat variant lifts pace
NIO delivered the 130,000th unit of its third-generation ES8 flagship SUV on July 22, with the most recent 10,000 vehicles taking about a month, a return toward the 10,000-per-month pace after June deliveries had slipped. The milestone vehicle was the new five-seat ES8 variant, which began deliveries on July 10 and has helped revive momentum for the model after a seven-month streak of 10,000-plus monthly deliveries ended in June. The ES8 is a cornerstone of NIO's premium lineup alongside the ES9 executive SUV and the ONVO and firefly sub-brands.
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