NIO's third brand Firefly is officially released, with the first car pre-sale price starting at $20,000

On the evening of December 21, NIO officially launched its third brand, Firefly, at the 2024 NIO Day. The first model shares the same name as the brand. NIO announced that the pre-sale price of the new car is $20,900, with an official launch scheduled for April 2025.
 

What are the characteristics of "Firefly"?

Although fireflies are small, they can shine brightly in the dark. From the name and logo, we can see NIO’s expectations for this brand, and "free glow" is a lifestyle concept intended to attract consumers.
 

"Firefly focuses on the smart, electric high-end car market. For NIO, it is similar to BMW’s MINI brand and Mercedes-Benz’s Smart brand. However, the products launched will be more like MINI than Smart and smarter than MINI," said Li Bin, founder and chairman of NIO, regarding the brand positioning of Firefly and the performance of the new car.
 

From the on-site introduction, the new car has three main features: smart driving experience, clever spatial utilization, and reliable safety design.
 

Smart Driving

In terms of smart driving, the turning radius of Firefly is only 4.7m, and it features a full-scene smart parking function. It is reported that Firefly will be equipped with Horizon's smart driving chip.
 

Space

The new car has been cleverly designed to maximize space. The 92L front trunk can store a large number of items, and its sealed design allows it to even hold water and fish. In the rear, after folding down the second row of seats, the space can be expanded to over 1250L, creating a flat area connected to the trunk.
 

Safety

The car is made from high-strength steel and aluminum alloy, with these materials accounting for 83.4% of the vehicle. It is equipped with 9 airbags and has undergone rigorous collision testing. Additionally, the new car comes with numerous driving assistance features to ensure safety on the road.
 

Overall, the car can be described in six words: smart, practical, reliable. The price is indeed competitive compared to other high-end small cars.
 

However, the car's appearance design has sparked some controversy since its release. From a personal perspective, the three round lights on both sides of the front face look somewhat unconventional and not particularly outstanding at first glance. Of course, aesthetics are subjective, and those who like it will naturally be drawn to it. In this regard, Jin Ge, president of Firefly, stated in an interview with the media that everyone will have different reactions when they first see the Firefly. After taking a closer look, the texture of the car improves to some extent. He added that Firefly will also speed up the release of the production version, and he believes that public opinion will change as more people experience the car.

From the perspective of the boutique car market, the Firefly brand still targets a niche segment in China. Li Bin also admitted in an interview that the small car market Firefly belongs to is a global market of up to 10 million vehicles, with Europe accounting for 4 million. The Chinese market is not particularly large. Firefly is a high-end small car brand designed for global customers, with a focus on the car usage habits and preferences of international markets. "It’s certain that Firefly will enter the global market faster than the NIO and Ledao brands," Li Bin said.
 

Good intentions aside, it's not easy for a new brand to succeed. We’ve seen MINI and Smart dominate the high-end small car field for many years, building strong brand loyalty and reputations globally. However, NIO is a company that has only been established for ten years. Its success will depend largely on market feedback and consumer acceptance of its technology. If Firefly can gain market recognition, it could play a pivotal role in NIO's growth and strengthen the company’s brand influence.