Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio plans to build its first right-hand-drive cars to tap markets including the UK and Southeast Asia as it seeks profitability.
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The Shanghai-based carmaker would begin building a right-hand-drive version of its Firefly minicar in October, with the EV serving as a new growth engine for Nio’s brands and technologies around the globe, president Qin Lihong said at a media briefing in Shanghai on Tuesday.
“Right-hand drive is a sizeable market, and we will be ready to build cars for the market,” he said. “We will continue to go global with our Firefly and Onvo brands.”
Nio will follow on the heels of its domestic rivals including Xpeng and Geely unit Zeekr Intelligent Technology in exploring right-hand-drive markets.
Nio began taking orders for the Firefly, which starts at 119,800 yuan (US$16,411) over the weekend in mainland China.
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Qin said the car would take on BMW’s Mini and the Mercedes-Benz Smart brand around the world.