According to recent media reports, NIO‘s complete vehicle factory (F4) will be located in Chuzhou Economic Development Zone, Anhui Province, and will start production of NIO’s third brand products. It is reported that this factory is integrated on the basis of the original factory of Leopaard Motors.
Due to poor management, the factories of Leopaard Motors in many places were taken over by other car companies, while the factory in Chuzhou was nationalized.
According to another source, NIO’s low-end brands with a value of less than 200,000 yuan will be produced at the Chuzhou plant. On January 26, Qin Lihong, the co-founder and president of NIO, stated in public that NIO’s new brand is in the process of intensive preparation, and the third brand named “Firefly” will be launched in Europe. The brand will focus on the small car and mini car market, and the price range is expected to be around 100,000 to 200,000yuan, it is expected to be launched in the third quarter of 2024. It is reported that “Firefly” is NIO’s internal code name, and the specific brand name has yet to be officially announced.
At present, NIO has two major production bases in Hefei, the JAC-NIO Advanced Manufacturing Base and the Xinqiao Smart Electric Vehicle Industrial Park. According to previous public reports, the NIO Xinqiao Smart Electric Vehicle Industrial Park will further expand production. The two bases will produce the NIO brand and the mid-to-high-end brand internally code-named “Alps”. Within NIO, the three major brands including “Firefly” are regarded as a stepped matrix such as Toyota’s “Suzuki, Toyota, and Lexus”. Of course, the “Firefly” brand also needs a new production line for production.
