HONG KONG -- Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio plans to double its overseas presence this year, betting on its premium Firefly hatchback as it tries to crack a lucrative market long dominated by BMW's Mini.
The Shanghai-based company aims to ship its "small, smart EV" Firefly to 20 to 30 countries across the Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America by year's end as part of an aggressive global expansion designed to offset lukewarm domestic sales.
The Firefly marque, which is already present in Thailand, Singapore and eight European countries, will target emerging markets including Nepal, Costa Rica and Uruguay, where demand for electric compact cars among a small group of well-off buyers remains untapped, Daniel Jin, president of Firefly, told Nikkei Asia in an interview.
"The affluent in developing countries are far richer than you might imagine," Jin said on the sidelines of the Bangkok International Auto Show, shortly before announcing a price tag of 799,000 baht ($24,442) for the vehicle in Thailand on Monday. That compares with a starting price of 1,599,000 baht for the all-electric Mini Cooper.
The Firefly, currently the fledgling brand's only model, features triple-halo headlights, massage seats and interactive in-car software. Measuring about 4 meters long, the five-door hatchback is nearly the same size as the three-door Mini Cooper Electric.
"BMW's Mini is our 'psychological benchmark,'" Jin said, adding that the Firefly also competes "head-to-head" with Geely Automobile Holdings' Zeekr X model.
Jin sought to distinguish the Firefly from similar brands launched by Chinese peers, such as Great Wall Motor's Ora Good Cat and Geely's EX2.
"They are tool-like vehicles with a high performance-price ratio, while we provide premium small cars with emotional value," he said.
Customers can take advantage of a retrofitting program that lets them customize the car's interior and exterior, and they have access to exclusive community activities as part of a signature services package that has fueled the success of Nio among middle-class drivers in China.
Despite its gains, a long-running price war in China has put Nio's high-cost premium business model under pressure, while cooling domestic EV demand has overshadowed the automaker's effort to raise its profile through a multibrand strategy.
Jin said Firefly's sales volume in China during the first two months of 2026 dropped "considerably," compared with the previous months, but he stressed the decline was less severe than that of its rivals. The company recorded an average monthly delivery of 6,361 units in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Overall, sales of China's new energy vehicles, which include battery-powered and plug-in hybrid cars, fell 27.5% during the same period, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. A rollback of government EV subsidies contributed to the decline.