Will the ONVO L90's Fast Market Entry Boost NIO's Competitive Edge?

NIO Inc.’s NIO sub-brand ONVO, which focuses on the family vehicle segment, started offering test drives for its upcoming L90 flagship electric SUV in China on Wednesday. Nearly 600 L90 units became available for test drives at more than 400 Onvo showrooms across 140 cities.

ONVO has officially announced that the L90 will launch on July 31. This is the first time the company has disclosed a specific date. Pre-sales for the large all-electric SUV began on July 10, 2025, and the deliveries would start on Aug. 1, 2025.

The L90 is set to be one of the fastest-to-market models in NIO’s lineup. The pre-sale price of L90 starts at RMB 279,900 with an 85-kWh battery. Under the Battery-as-a-Service rental option, the starting price is reduced to RMB 193,900. It is expected that the price may drop further upon official launch, a common practice in China’s EV market.

Although positioned as a value offering, the L90 comes equipped with high-end features such as 900V fast charging, an AR head-up display, adjustable air suspension, a built-in smart refrigerator and Level 2+ driver assistance systems powered by Nvidia’s Orin-X chip. To keep costs down without compromising on quality, NIO leveraged existing platforms and powertrains in the L90's design. NIO carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. 

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Recent Launches by NIO’s Competitors

Li Auto Inc. LI will unveil its electric SUV, the Li i8, on July 29. Li Auto started pre-sales for the model on July 17 with a starting price estimated between RMB 350,000 and RMB 400,000. With support for 5C fast charging, the vehicle significantly reduces downtime at charging stations. Although slightly more compact than NIO’s ONVO L90, the i8 surpasses it in both battery capacity and range.

XPeng Inc. XPEV officially launched the G7 earlier this month, its first all-new model of the year, at a competitive starting price of RMB 195,800. This represents a reduction from the initial pre-sale price of RMB 235,800 announced on June 11. XPeng G7 is offered in three configurations. The G7 is the first model to feature XPeng’s proprietary Turing AI smart driving chip, which delivers up to 2,250 TOPS of computing power, the highest among electric vehicles currently on the market for intelligent driving systems.

NIO’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates  

NIO has outperformed the Zacks Automotive-Domestic industry year to date. NIO shares have gained 14.9% against the industry’s decline of 7.2%.

YTD Price Performance

From a valuation perspective, NIO appears overvalued. Going by its price/sales ratio, the company is trading at a forward sales multiple of 0.66, higher than its industry’s 0.45.

EPS Estimates Revision

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 EPS has moved up 16 cents in the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 EPS has moved down a penny in the past 30 days. 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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