Nio Delivers 23,231 Vehicles in May, Up 13% Year-on-Year; Main Brand Falls 35%, Firefly Hits 3,680 Units

Nio reported a 13.08% year-on-year increase in vehicle deliveries for May, driven by strong performance from its sub-brands Onvo and Firefly, although deliveries fell slightly from April.

The Chinese electric vehicle maker delivered 23,231 vehicles in May, up from 20,544 units a year earlier, but down 2.80% from 23,900 units in April. The Nio main brand delivered 13,270 units last month, marking a 35.41% decline from the same month last year and down 31.13% month-on-month.

Firefly, Nio’s newest sub-brand, delivered 3,680 vehicles in its first full month of operation. Onvo contributed 6,281 deliveries in May, helping to offset declines from the core Nio brand.

From January to May, Nio Inc delivered 89,225 vehicles, a 34.75% year-on-year increase. The main Nio brand delivered 59,852 units during that period, a 9.61% drop compared to the same time last year. Onvo and Firefly contributed 25,462 and 3,911 deliveries respectively.

“As of the end of May, Nio Inc’s cumulative deliveries totaled 760,789 vehicles,” the company said, noting that 710,655 were from the main brand, 46,223 from Onvo, and 3,911 from Firefly.

The company attributed some of the recent weakness in its main brand’s performance to model updates that may have temporarily disrupted sales. Nio launched refreshed versions of its ES6 and EC6 SUVs on May 16 and began deliveries on May 20. Updated ET5 and ET5T models followed later in the month.

Together, the ES6, EC6, ET5, and ET5T accounted for more than 180,000 units delivered in 2024, representing over 81% of Nio Inc’s full-year deliveries last year. The ES6 alone delivered 75,433 units, making it the company’s top-selling model.

While detailed model-level sales data for May has not been disclosed, further information is expected from the China Passenger Car Association later this month.

Looking ahead, Nio plans to expand its lineup further. Co-founder and president Qin Lihong confirmed the flagship ES9 SUV will launch in the first half of 2026, while an updated ES8 is expected between August and September this year.

Sub-brand Onvo, which currently sells only the L60 SUV, is preparing to roll out two more models—L90 and L80—later this year. Meanwhile, Firefly, which launched its sole model on April 19, is preparing for a European debut between June and August, with a right-hand-drive version expected by October.

“We’ll choose an appropriate time between June and August to launch Firefly’s first model in Europe,” Qin said on April 22.