Nio‘s mass-market sub-brand, Onvo, is reportedly beneath important strain to spice up gross sales efficiency, resulting in an accelerated integration of its operations and gross sales channels with its dad or mum firm in a number of pilot cities. The transfer underscores the pressing want for Onvo to contribute extra considerably to Nio’s total gross sales quantity.
The impetus for this integration seems immediately linked to Onvo’s latest gross sales figures. In April, the model, primarily represented by its L60 mannequin, bought solely 4,400 automobiles. This represented a lower from its March efficiency and fell wanting inside expectations. Onvo was particularly launched with the objective of considerably rising Nio’s whole deliveries, and its present efficiency is evidently not assembly that goal.
The strain is palpable inside the Onvo group, significantly in cities the place integration is underway. In Hangzhou and Wenzhou, the place Nio is taking the lead within the merger, Onvo regional presidents have been demoted, now reporting to Nio’s regional administration. Onvo employees in these places are going through intense scrutiny from their new management, enduring prolonged conferences and fixed calls for for gross sales updates and explanations for missed targets. Some Onvo managers additionally report feeling marginalized as Nio’s regional heads appear to favor their current groups.
Frontline gross sales employees are additionally feeling the warmth. Onvo has launched new compensation buildings that tie pay on to strict month-to-month gross sales KPIs, providing both a excessive base wage with low fee or a low base wage with excessive fee. Failure to fulfill these demanding targets may end up in “particular consideration” from the corporate.
This heightened strain follows a interval of missed targets. Onvo’s former president, Alan Ai, had set formidable targets for the L60, together with delivering over 10,000 models in December 2024 and exceeding 20,000 in March 2025. Whereas the December goal was met, the essential March objective was missed, an element reportedly contributing to Alan Ai’s resignation in April 2025.
The Onvo L60 faces notable market challenges. Whereas its spacious inside and battery swapping functionality are positives, its experience high quality has been criticized when in comparison with rivals just like the Zeekr 007. Moreover, the extremely standard Xiaomi SU7, with a beginning value solely barely above the L60’s buy value (excluding battery rental), has emerged as a formidable competitor, seemingly impacting Onvo’s potential buyer base. There’s additionally concern that the L60 might doubtlessly cannibalize gross sales from Nio’s personal entry-level ET5 sequence, particularly as latest promotions have narrowed the value distinction.
In response to the gross sales challenges, Onvo has reportedly halted its deliberate growth of latest shops, a transfer seen as a precursor to integrating its gross sales channels extra intently with Nio’s current community.
The brand new Onvo CEO, Shen Fei, a veteran Nio government, is now tasked with navigating this difficult gross sales atmosphere. Whereas identified for his concentrate on execution, Shen Fei is reportedly emphasizing elementary gross sales abilities and person service for the Onvo workforce. He’s stated to be encouraging a extra grounded strategy to targets, specializing in incremental enhancements like promoting “yet one more automotive than final month” per workforce member, fairly than solely pushing aggressive total figures.
The accelerated integration, anticipated to accentuate earlier than Onvo’s first anniversary on Might 15, is seen as a vital step to enhance operational effectivity and, most significantly, increase gross sales efficiency to assist the model transfer in the direction of self-sufficiency. The strain is clearly on Onvo to ship outcomes.
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