NIO has an ambitious growth strategy which also concerns the < strong>European market. As we know, the Chinese brand is already entered Germany, Holland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Obviously, the goal is that of being able to market its electric cars also in other European countries, Italy included. Speaking of our country, we will need to However wait a bit given that we're talking about 2025.
In Italy, as in the rest of the European markets, NIO will introduce also the Firefly sub-brand which should be launched in the third quarter of 2024. We will start from Europe but then the Firefly brand battery-powered cars will also arrive in China. The goal is that of being able to market more electric cars through this brand. accessible from an economic point of view.
STARTING IN 2024 
The name Firefly is, at the moment, temporary. In any case, the car manufacturer believes a lot in this project to increase its presence on the European market. As NIO's number one had said in an old interview with Autocar, in Europe there is a strong demand for compact cars with accessible list prices.
We are talking about cars with an entry price of less than 30 thousand euros. After all, to take root in a new market you cannot focus only on premium cars. For this reason, NIO intends to focus on this new sub-brand with which to present more advanced electric cars on the market. accessible.
The first Firefly model could be a compact electric to be offered at a starting price of less than 30 thousand euros. It would therefore be a vehicle that would enter into direct competition with the MG4 which is selling very well in Europe. In the medium term, these electric cars could become rivals of the "small" battery-powered cars that the Volkswagen Group intends to launch from 2025 starting with the ID.2 which, as we know, will have a starting price of 25 thousand euros.
At the moment, however, there is still no precise information on the characteristics that these cars will have. In any case, advances in batteries will help NIO keep the price of its future compact electrics down.
Furthermore, NIO will aim to a lot on economies of scale to contain the construction costs of its cars. Although the Firefly models will be designed for the European market, they will be produced in China, reportedly at a factory in Anhui province. Models for NIO's new Alps sub-brand will also be produced at the plant. This strategy, therefore, will allow to achieve greater economies of scale given that there is speculation that the Firelfy and Alps models could share some of the mechanics.
BATTERY SWAP 
Future Firefly models will continue to feature the technologies that NIO has developed in recent years, including battery swap. Swapping batteries is easy. very important for the Chinese brand which also uses this system to offer its models with the battery rental formula. Offer that allows you to lower the cost of accessing your electricity by paying a monthly fee.
However, the compact Firefly models will not be compatible with NIO's current battery swap stations due to their larger size. small and, probably, due to the use of different batteries. This could mean having to create a dedicated network. In Europe, this may not be a problem as, currently, the network of battery swapping stations is small. still very small. At the moment, it is made up of only 27 stations with the aim of reaching 80 by the end of 2023. In China, by way of comparison, we are already almost at 2,000. However, in the past, NIO aimed to reach the milestone of 1,000 stations by 2025, outside the borders of China.
COMMERCIAL OFFER 
NIO's distribution model in Europe will not change. Therefore, it will continue to propose a direct sales model. However, for the Firefly sub-brand things could be different. In fact, the Chinese automaker is also evaluating other options, including that of resellers. Therefore, a dealer network could be created. Moreover, NIO has made it known that it will choose the model that best suits the local market and the brand's development needs.
Therefore, all that remains is to wait for further news to better understand the contours of this project.< /p>The smartest smartphone? business suit? Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, buy it at the best price from eBay at 939 euros.