Nio Stock Picks Up Speed In Hong Kong: Onvo L80 Takes A Cheaper Shot At Tesla Model Y

• Nio shares jumped nearly 10% in Hong Kong after the company opened pre-sales for its new Onvo L80 SUV, priced below the Tesla Model Y in China.
• The L80 starts at 245,800 yuan, about 17,700 yuan cheaper than the Model Y, and drops to 159,800 yuan under the Battery-as-a-Service option.
• CEO William Li said pricing comes amid rising raw material costs, but still maintains some gross margin.

Shares of Nio, Inc. (NIO) jumped nearly 10% in Hong Kong on Wednesday after the company opened pre-sales for its new Onvo L80 SUV at a price below Tesla’s Model Y in China, boosting investor confidence in its latest push into China’s competitive mid-premium EV segment.

Nio’s U.S.-listed shares also jumped over 2% on Monday to end at $6.36.

Onvo L80 Undercuts Tesla Model Y On Price

Investor sentiment was boosted by Onvo L80’s competitive pre-sale price at 245,800 yuan (35,949), which is about 17,700 yuan below the Model Y’s entry price in China. The price can drop further to 159,800 yuan under Nio’s Battery-as-a-Service subscription option, adding a fresh tailwind in its bid to widen access to its smart EV ecosystem.

The vehicle is scheduled for official launch on May 15, with showroom units already arriving at Onvo stores nationwide and test drives opening from May 1. Nio positioned the L80 within China’s highly competitive 200,000-300,000 yuan SUV segment, while maintaining a deliberate price gap within its own lineup.

CEO William Li said that pricing was still based on rising input costs for lithium, aluminum, memory chips, plastics, and rubber, adding that it had fully accounted for these increases. He also said that the company retained some gross margin despite the pricing pressure. More importantly, the L80’s first-day order performance exceeded that of the earlier L90 at the same stage after its debut, according to Li.

Nio is beefing up its product lineup amid intensifying competition from domestic rivals, including Li Auto, XPeng, and BYD, as well as newer entrants such as Xiaomi. All the rival firms also logged solid gains as of mid-day Hong Kong trading. 

Nio Expands Smart-Driving Push With L80 Launch 

The L80 rollout is part of a three-model product cycle, including the L80, an L90 facelift, and an L60 facelift, aimed at stabilizing deliveries following weaker domestic sales earlier this year. The five-seat SUV is positioned between the compact L60 and the larger three-row L90 in the Onvo lineup and is priced about 7.5% below the L90’s entry level.

Nio has highlighted the L80’s dual-track intelligent driving stack, offering both LiDAR-equipped and vision-only variants to match different price points and user preferences.

The flagship Coconut+ configuration integrates 30 sensors with Nio’s in-house Shenji NX9031 autonomous-driving chip and its World Model AI foundation, enabling full smart-driving capability. The SUV is also built on a 900-volt high-voltage platform and offers both rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive variants, with the latter accelerating from zero to 100 kilometers per hour in 4.7 seconds.

Inside, the model features a 35-inch AR-HUD safety screen, a 17.2-inch 3K central display, and an 8-inch rear-row screen, along with a new “Shenji” perception platform to improve visibility in low-light, foggy, and glare conditions, as well as in complex driving scenarios.

China EV Rivals Close Gap With Tesla

The pricing of the Onvo L80 puts it in direct competition with the Tesla Model Y, one of China’s best-selling premium electric SUVs.

Tesla has maintained strong volume leadership in the segment thanks to its brand strength, software ecosystem, and manufacturing scale at its Shanghai Gigafactory. However, the competitive landscape has shifted rapidly over the past year as Chinese automakers have introduced better features, such as flexible battery subscription models and increasingly advanced driver-assistance hardware stacks.

The L80’s dual-track smart-driving strategy contrasts with Tesla's camera-only autonomy system, giving consumers additional configuration flexibility.

How Do Retail Traders Feel About Nio?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for Nio was ‘bearish’ amid ‘normal’ message volume.

One user said, “I think the incredible space that L80 affords will appeal to these customers.”

Another user said, “$23,000 for Onvo L80 with BAAS. Here in the Netherlands you can't even buy a Volkswagen Polo which costs $32,000.”

Nio’s U.S.-listed shares have jumped 48% over the past year, outperforming Tesla’s stock, which has risen 32% over the same period. 

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