Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio is introducing an Onvo-branded L60 SUV with a lower price than rival Tesla in the highly competitive market for battery electric vehicles. The L60 will start at 149,900 yuan to meet budgetary considerations for potential buyers. Buying the car and the battery pack combined will start at 206,900 yuan. Deliveries will begin on 28 September.
This is lesser than the launch price Onvo unveiled in May, with L60 starting at 219,900 yuan, compared to Tesla’s Model Y, starting at 249,900 yuan. Nio shares gained a little about 3.5% after the L60’s official release.
The Onvo brand from Nio, on the other hand, wants to go really global: CEO William Li said the vehicle could be sold in Europe as early as next year. Li said the problem lies with tariffs and regulations on Nio’s premium sales in Europe and the U.S. He says Onvo goes at a lower price point, which assuages fears of taking business from existing Nio customers.
As battle in the EV market in China heats up, and given that firms aggressively try to snub market share off the Silicon Valley firm, Geely-backed Zeekr unveiled its midsize SUV, the Zeekr 7X at 239,900 yuan, while Xpeng’s mass-market Mona M03 electric coupe, which comes with a 515-kilometer range, started at 119,800 yuan.
Although prices have come down significantly in the past few months, Tesla still sells one of the costliest Model 3 versions in China at 231,900 yuan. NIO also continues playing its expansionary strategy, completing the first deliveries of vehicles in the UAE and planning to make over 200 Onvo retail stores across China by the end of the year.
Li expects Onvo to ship 10,000 units by the end of December, but he’s targeting 20,000 in monthly deliveries for 2024 and a 15 percent margin on the Onvo-branded vehicle. The company will launch Firefly next year and it will be an even lower priced EV compared to Onvo.
