Nio's 31-Month Growth Run Ends as Onvo Slips, October Deliveries Down 15%

Nio Inc just posted its first year-on-year delivery drop since February 2024. The Shanghai-based EV maker handed over 34,246 vehicles in October, a 15.23% slide compared with a year earlier and 8.45% below September’s number.

The figure is the company’s weakest monthly output since April, and it snaps a run of 31 consecutive months in which Nio outsold its own year-ago result.

Onvo Is the Drag

The headline number hides three very different stories. Nio’s namesake brand moved 18,125 cars — up 5.73% year on year, yet 14.98% lower than September and its softest month since February.

Onvo, the family-focused sub-brand, did most of the damage. It delivered 8,383 vehicles, down 51.66% year on year and 4.34% month on month — its third straight annual decline and fifth consecutive monthly drop. Onvo’s January–October tally of 78,574 units is now 9.54% behind the same stretch last year, a reversal from the slight gain it held through September.

Firefly was the lone bright spot. The compact EV brand set a monthly record for the second month running with 7,738 deliveries, up 30.89% year on year and 5.61% sequentially. It was the only Nio brand to grow in October, and its share of group volume climbed to 22.60%, the highest since Firefly began shipping.

October Scorecard: Nio brand 18,125 · Onvo 8,383 · Firefly 7,738 · Group total 34,246 (down 15.23% YoY)

The Bigger Picture Still Looks Solid

Zoom out and the year is far from a bust. Through October, Nio has delivered 334,547 vehicles, up 38.46% year on year and already ahead of its entire 2025 total of 326,028. Cumulative deliveries since the company’s founding now stand at 1,332,139.

That said, the growth rate is cooling fast — from 49.24% after nine months to 38.46% after ten. October’s stumble is a big reason why.

• Nio main brand: 200,113 units year-to-date, up 55.71%, roughly 60% of group volume
• Onvo: 78,574 units year-to-date, down 9.54%, though it passed 200,000 lifetime deliveries on October 8
• Firefly: 55,860 units year-to-date, 95,274 cumulative

Onvo’s lineup now consists of three battery-electric SUVs — the L60, L80 and L90 — after a product refresh in the second quarter. More metal on the shelf hasn’t translated into more sales yet, and that is the number to watch in November.

Product News Bubbling Under the Surface

Nio also flagged that the third-generation ES8 hit 160,000 cumulative deliveries on October 23, without breaking out the model’s October volume. Reading between the lines, ES8 deliveries last month likely came in under 10,000 units. The company says the all-new ES8 leads cumulative retail sales in China’s large SUV segment for the first ten months, and a five-seat variant added in July widened the range beyond its six- and seven-seat versions.

On the Firefly side, a 60-kWh battery pack landed on October 23, pushing CLTC range to 560 kilometers (348 miles) and giving both new buyers and existing owners a longer-legged option.

Separately, Nio continues work on in-house cylindrical cells, with reports pointing to limited output by year-end and Eve Energy and Gotion handling contract manufacturing. Mass production, by all accounts, remains a tough climb in the near term.

For now, the story is simple: Nio’s premium brand is holding steady, Firefly is accelerating, and Onvo is the question mark the company needs to answer before the year closes.