It seems like every month there’s another Chinese brand announced for Australia, offering a variant of a mid-size SUV or a subcompact car.
Now another Chinese brand is throwing its hat into the ring and planning to tackle a slightly less crowded part of our extremely crowded market.
The Fireflies The brand, owned by independent (i.e. non-state-owned) Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio, is about to launch locally with its eponymous electric hatchback, its only vehicle to date. Global rollout began in 2025.
Firefly’s debut model is offered as a lightweight quasi-premium hatchback, priced higher in Europe than the similarly sized BYD Dolphin Surf – a budget hatchback launched in Australia as Atto 1 and boasting the lowest price of any electric vehicle in our market.
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However, there is still one obstacle: the brand still needs to secure a distribution partner. Still working on finding one.
“We are in active discussions with potential local importers and distributors and want to accelerate these discussions to ensure a compliant, mature and sustainable market entry,” said a Nio spokesperson Daily Sparkz.
Of the numerous Chinese brands currently offered in Australia, a handful are imported and sold through a third-party distributor rather than a factory-based operation.
These include Deepal and Foton (Inchcape) and Xpeng (True EV).
“Firefly is now conducting road testing in Australia as part of our global safety testing and product validation process,” the spokesperson continued.
“Soon we will complete the required crash and safety testing in Australia. Our goal is to become the first small vehicle to successfully meet the safety assessment standards of China, Europe and Australia.”
The Firefly has already been assessed by Euro NCAP and received a five-star rating this year. It achieved an impressive Adult Occupant Protection rating of 96 percent, as well as Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection and Safety Assist scores of 87 percent, 82 percent and 86 percent, respectively.
“On the product side, the right-hand drive version of the Firefly is already ready, with multiple configurations designed to meet the different needs of customers in Australia,” the spokesperson added.
“The ongoing testing and validation work in Australia is important steps towards official market entry.
“We will continue to advance the relevant processes and share further updates with the media and the public as more concrete timelines become available.”
In August, the Firefly appeared in Australian Government approval documents and was cleared for sale in our market.
This follows local trademark filings for the Firefly brand in recent years, as well as confirmation from Nio earlier this year that it would introduce the brand to the right-hand drive market in Singapore in 2026.
There is only one powertrain, approved for sale in Australia in two variants. This is a single electric motor that generates 105 kW of power and transmits drive to the rear wheels.
The Firefly is 4003 mm long, 1781 mm wide and 1557 mm high with a wheelbase of 2615 mm.
This makes it 53mm longer and 86mm wider than a Toyota Yaris with a 65mm longer wheelbase.
Regardless of its specific dimensions, the Firefly may be compared to other electric hatchbacks, including the larger BYD Dolphin, MG 4 and GWM Ora.
While the specification details in the regulatory approval documents are limited, we can look to the European market – particularly the Dutch and Norwegian markets – for further details.
In the Netherlands, the Firefly range starts at €29,900 (~A$53,300) for the First Edition – around €7,000 more than the similarly sized BYD Dolphin Surf.
Only a 105kW/200Nm electric motor is available, powered by a 41.2kWh battery with up to 330km of WLTP electric range.
Energy consumption is 14.5 kWh/100 km, also on the WLTP cycle, while charging is possible at up to 11 kW on AC and 100 kW on DC.
There’s also a 3.68kW Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) charging feature that lets you power electronic devices, as well as a one-pedal driving mode.
The Firefly features MacPherson struts at the front and a five-link rear suspension.
The exterior lighting is quirky, with three circular lights on either side of the vehicle, both front and rear. The headlights are LED headlights and have adaptive high beam.
Inside, there’s a 6.0-inch digital instrument cluster and a 13.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
There’s 256-color ambient lighting, a digital rearview mirror, semi-autonomous parking assist and a 640W, 14-speaker sound system with Dolby Atmos.
The seats and door panels are made from 100 percent recycled polyester, and the front seats are heated as standard.
The top-of-the-line also features ventilated, massaging and power-adjustable front seats, as well as microfiber upholstery.
It also gets a panoramic glass roof, power folding exterior mirrors, a fragrance system, a wireless phone charger and a power tailgate.
Storage space is found under the rear seat cushions, while the lack of a traditional center console means you can enter the front of the vehicle from either side to reach the driver’s seat.
Standard safety features include autonomous emergency braking (forward and reverse), blind spot monitoring including camera view, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, safe exit warning and traffic sign recognition.
There is 404 liters of cargo space available at the rear, which increases to 1,253 liters when the rear seats are folded down. There is also 92 liters of storage space under the hood.
Firefly isn’t Nio’s only spin-off brand. In addition to launching Firefly last year, the company also launched Onvo, a cheaper, family-oriented counterpart to Nio’s eponymous brand focused on the European market.
Here, Nio has filed to protect the Onvo nameplate as well as the “L60” name used on the brand’s debut model, a mid- to large-sized electric coupe SUV.
It’s unclear whether Nio plans to bring its so-called Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) offering from China.
This means owners effectively lease battery access and have the ability to drive to a battery swapping station.
MORE: Chinese manufacturer Nio’s quirky electric Firefly hatch is about to be launched in Australia
