Nio will remain in Europe. Onvo is set to enter our market in 2028-2029.
William Li, founder and CEO of Nio, visited Europe for the first time since November 2025, meeting with customers, partners, and employees there. The company confirmed two things during the visit: it is not leaving Europe and plans to launch its Onvo brand in Europe between 2028 and 2029. For drivers, this is a clear signal: Nio is cutting costs but is not giving up.
Nio has been restructuring its European operations for months. Instead of relying heavily on its own infrastructure, it aims to depend more on local distributors. However, the company emphasizes that this shift in operational model does not mean withdrawing from the region. It will continue to operate directly in selected countries while also working alongside partners.
This is actually consistent with what was mentioned earlier regarding Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. There, Nio was supposed to consider shifting to a distribution model, while possibly retaining direct sales in Norway. In other words, fewer “flagship” ambitions and more focus on profitability. Reasonable.
Li said outright: “Our users tell us very directly what works, what is missing, and what they expect from us.” The second quote is even more important from a business perspective: Europe has long-term potential for Nio, but the company wants to take its next steps “with discipline” at a pace that allows for sustainable growth, rather than just for the sake of expansion.
Nio promises service and warranty, as things have been mixed in the past
Nio assures that it will maintain after-sales support, warranties, parts, and connected services throughout the vehicle’s lifecycle. This isn’t trivial, as in May 2026 the company’s managers met with users in the Netherlands, where complaints arose regarding delayed software updates and after-sales support.
Now the company claims that feedback from various markets will be incorporated earlier into product definition and business decisions. In short: first align the product and business model, then pursue growth. That makes sense, but Nio still needs to prove it in practice.
Onvo also emerges in the background. Nio has confirmed that its family-oriented EV brand will enter international markets, with a European debut planned for 2028-2029. In May, only discussions about evaluating possibilities were underway, so now the timeline is clearer. Onvo aims at the mass market segment of family electric vehicles, where competition in Europe is most fierce.
Nio also said it will continue to assess opportunities for the Nio and Firefly brands. The portfolio of brands and models is set to grow gradually, in line with actual demand. No fixed dates for everything at once. And that might be good, as Chinese brands have already passed through that phase of making grand promises.
William Li at WTO on smart driving and homologation
The second aspect of this visit is Li’s speech at the World Trade and Tech Day held at the WTO headquarters in Geneva on September 14 local time. There, Nio’s CEO called for greater consistency in testing methods across markets and mutual recognition of test results.
The goal is clear: to reduce the costs of deploying technologies such as smart driving abroad. Li also stated that manufacturers must consider global regulatory compliance and local requirements from the product development stage onward. Otherwise, ambitious ADAS systems will remain as expensive features confined to a single country.
For Europe and Poland, one thing is more important than speeches: in June, Nio opened its first Nio House in Greece, in Athens, alongside local partner Motodynamics. This means the partnership model is already in operation, not just a slide in a presentation.
Nio isn’t promising an assault on Europe today. It’s promising patience. And that sounds much more credible in 2026. Do you think Onvo still has a chance between Tesla, BYD, and European competitors?
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