It seems like every month another Chinese brand is announced for Australia, offering some permutation of a mid-size SUV or a ute.
Now, yet another Chinese brand is throwing its hat into the ring and it plans to tackle a slightly less cluttered part of our extremely cluttered market.
The Firefly brand, owned by independent (ie: not state-owned) Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Nio, is nearing a local launch with its eponymous electric hatchback, thus far its only vehicle. Its global rollout commenced in 2025.
Firefly’s debut model is pitched as a quasi-premium light hatchback, priced higher in Europe than the similarly sized BYD Dolphin Surf – a budget hatch that’s launching in Australia as the Atto 1 and wearing the lowest price tag of any EV on our market.
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However, there’s still one roadblock in the way: the brand has yet to lock in a distributor. Work is still underway to find one.
“We are in active discussions with potential local importers and distributors, and we aim to accelerate these conversations to ensure a compliant, mature, and sustainable market entry,” a Nio spokesperson told CarExpert.
Among the numerous Chinese brands currently offered in Australia, a handful are imported and sold by a third-party distributor instead of a factory-backed operation.
These include Deepal and Foton (Inchcape) and Xpeng (True EV).
“Now firefly is conducting road tests in Australia as part of our global safety testing and product validation process,” the spokesperson continued.
“Soon, we will finish the required crash and safety testing in Australia. Our goal is to become the first small vehicle to successfully meet the safety rating standards of China, Europe, and Australia.”
The Firefly has already been assessed by Euro NCAP, which gave it a five-star rating this year. It received an impressive adult occupant protection score of 96 per cent, as well as scores of 87 per cent, 82 per cent and 86 per cent, respectively, for child occupant protection, vulnerable road user protection, and safety assist.
“On the product side, the right-hand-drive version of firefly is already ready, with multiple configurations designed to meet the diverse needs of customers in Australia,” the spokesperson added.
“The ongoing tests and validation work in Australia are all important steps as we move toward an official market entry.
“We will continue to advance the relevant processes and will share further updates with the media and the public as soon as more concrete timing becomes available.”
In August, the Firefly appeared in Australian Government approval documents, clearing it for sale in our market.
This followed local trademark filings made for the Firefly brand over the past couple of years, as well as confirmation from Nio earlier this year that it would launch the brand in the right-hand drive Singaporean market in 2026.
There’s just one powertrain that’s been approved for sale in Australia, across two variants. This comprises a single electric motor producing 105kW of power, sending drive to the rear wheels.
The Firefly measures 4003mm long, 1781mm wide and 1557mm tall on a 2615mm wheelbase.
That makes it 53mm longer and 86mm wider than a Toyota Yaris on a 65mm longer wheelbase.
Regardless of its specific dimensions, the Firefly may find itself cross-shopped against other electric hatchbacks including the larger BYD Dolphin, MG 4 and GWM Ora.
While specification details are limited in government approval documents, we can look to the European market – specifically the Dutch and Norwegian markets – for more details.
In the Netherlands, the Firefly range opens at €29,900 (~A$53,300) for the First Edition – around €7000 more than the similarly sized BYD Dolphin Surf.
There’s only a 105kW/200Nm electric motor available, powered by a 41.2kWh battery with up to 330km of WLTP electric range.
Energy consumption is 14.5kWh/100km, also under the WLTP cycle, while it can be charged at up to 11kW on AC power and 100kW using DC power.
There’s also 3.68kW vehicle-to-load (V2L) charging capability, allowing you to power electrical appliances, as well as a one-pedal drive mode.
The Firefly features MacPherson strut front and 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 and feature 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-colour ambient lighting, a digital rear-view mirror, semi-autonomous parking assist, and a 14-speaker 640W sound system with Dolby Atmos.
The seats and door panels are finished in 100 per cent recycled polyester, with the front seats featuring heating as standard.
The top grade also adds ventilated, massaging and power-adjustable front seats as well as microfibre upholstery.
It also receives a panoramic glass roof, power-folding exterior mirrors, a fragrance system, wireless phone charger and a power tailgate.
Storage can be found under the rear seat cushions, while the lack of a traditional centre console means you can enter the front of the vehicle from either side to reach the driver’s seat.
Standard safety equipment includes autonomous emergency braking (forward and reverse), blind-spot monitoring including a camera view, adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, safe exit warning and traffic sign recognition.
There’s 404 litres of cargo space at the back, expanding to 1253L with the rear seats dropped. There’s also 92L of storage under the bonnet.
Firefly isn’t the only spinoff brand of Nio. In addition to debuting Firefly last year, it also launched Onvo, a more affordable, family-focused counterpart to Nio’s namesake brand with a focus on the European market.
Nio has filed to protect the Onvo nameplate here, as well as ‘L60’ – used on the brand’s debut model, a medium-to-large electric coupe SUV.
It’s unclear whether Nio plans to bring its so-called battery-as-a-service (BaaS) offering over from China.
This sees owners effectively lease battery access and have the ability to drive to a battery swapping station.
MORE: Quirky Firefly electric hatch from China’s Nio nears Australian launch