NIO's Chinese name is 蔚来 (Wèilái). The company glosses it as 'Blue Sky Coming' — 蔚 carries the sense of a deep blue sky and 来 means 'to come' — and states that as its mission in its own results releases. The three Latin letters are an export mark, not a transliteration.

No single owner controls it. Its largest shareholder is the Abu Dhabi state fund L'imad, which took over CYVN Investments in January 2026; CYVN had built a holding of about 20.1% of all ordinary shares by early 2024 and L'imad's stake was reported at 17.9%. Founder William Li and Tencent are long-standing shareholders, and three Chinese state investors hold a minority of the China operating subsidiary rather than of the listed parent.

Yes in substance. NIO Inc. is registered in the Cayman Islands and listed in New York, Hong Kong and Singapore, but it was founded in China by a Chinese entrepreneur, its head office is in Shanghai, its manufacturing and main operating company are in Anhui province, and almost all of its sales are in China.

Where are NIO cars made?

In Anhui province in eastern China. NIO's operating subsidiary NIO (Anhui) Holdings is headquartered in Hefei, the provincial capital, under the April 2020 agreements that brought in the Anhui state investors.

Is NIO sold in the United States?

No. NIO's shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange, but no NIO, Onvo or Firefly car has been offered for sale to buyers in the United States.

蔚来NIO

NIO: the group, its brands and who controls it

Facts checked 4 September 2026

NYSE NIO
HKEX 9866
SGX NIO

NIO Inc. is a Cayman Islands-registered company whose operating business is in China. William Li founded it in November 2014, and it now sells battery-electric passenger cars under three marques: NIO at the top, the family-sized Onvo below it and the small-car Firefly below that. Its American depositary shares trade in New York; its Class A ordinary shares are listed in Hong Kong and Singapore. Its principal executive offices are on Caobao Road in Shanghai's Minhang district, and its main China operating subsidiary is based in Hefei, Anhui province.

The engineering choice that separates NIO from its peers is the swappable battery. A NIO can drive into a Power Swap Station and have its depleted pack exchanged for a charged one, and the company also sells cars without a battery under a subscription arrangement it calls Battery as a Service. NIO said it recorded its hundred-millionth swap on 6 February 2026 and had 3,790 swap stations in service worldwide at that date, the first having opened in 2018.

Ownership is unusually mixed for a privately founded Chinese carmaker. In April 2020, when the company was short of cash, three Chinese state investors led by Hefei City Construction and Investment Holding put RMB 7 billion into the operating subsidiary NIO (Anhui) Holdings for 24.1% of it, while NIO contributed its core China businesses and a further RMB 4.26 billion for the remaining 75.9%. Separately, in 2023 the Abu Dhabi vehicle CYVN Investments bought into the listed parent and reached about 20.1% of all ordinary shares; in January 2026 Abu Dhabi folded CYVN into a new state fund called L'imad, whose NIO holding was reported at 17.9%.

NIO delivered 326,028 vehicles in 2025, 46.9% more than in 2024, on revenue of RMB 87,487.5 million (US$12,510.5 million). It lost RMB 14,942.6 million over the year but reported a net profit of RMB 282.7 million in the fourth quarter.

Key facts

Chinese name	蔚来 Wèilái “way-LYE” 蔚 wèi describes something luxuriant, and in the phrase 蔚蓝 it means the deep blue of a clear sky; 来 lái is 'to come'. The company glosses the pair as 'Blue Sky Coming'.
Legal name	NIO Inc.
Ownership	Mixed ownership
Founded	2014 by William Li (Li Bin)
Headquarters	Shanghai, Shanghai, China
Vehicles	Cars
Listings	NYSE NIO, HKEX 9866 and SGX NIO
2025 deliveries	326,028 vehicles, up 46.9% on 2024, across the NIO, Onvo and Firefly brands
2025 revenue	RMB 87,487.5 million (US$12,510.5 million), of which RMB 76,883.9 million was vehicle sales
2025 result	Net loss of RMB 14,942.6 million (US$2,136.8 million) for the year; net profit of RMB 282.7 million in the fourth quarter
Battery swap network	3,790 Power Swap Stations worldwide as of 6 February 2026, the day NIO recorded its 100 millionth swap; the first station opened in 2018
Cumulative deliveries	997,592 vehicles as of 31 December 2025
Hefei investment	RMB 7 billion from three Chinese state investors for 24.1% of NIO China on 29 April 2020; NIO Inc. retained 75.9%
Largest shareholder	CYVN Investments of Abu Dhabi held about 20.1% of all ordinary shares as of 26 February 2024; the holding passed to the Abu Dhabi state fund L'imad, reported at 17.9% in January 2026
Employees	32,820 at the end of 2024; a 2025 headcount was not confirmed for this record

Ownership tree

NIO (group)
Firefly (brand) Controlled; the share is not published
NIO (brand) Controlled; the share is not published
Onvo (brand) Controlled; the share is not published

Holdings below NIO, drawn from the same ownership graph the who-owns pages and the tool read.

Who controls NIO?

L'imad owns CYVN Holdings at 100% since January 2026.
L'imad wholly owns CYVN Investments, the entity that holds the NIO shares, following the January 2026 reorganisation of Abu Dhabi's holdings.
CYVN Holdings holds a stake in NIO at 20.1% since 27 December 2023.
CYVN Investments RSC Ltd of Abu Dhabi built its holding through an investment of about US$1.1 billion completed in July 2023 and a US$2.2 billion share subscription that closed on 27 December 2023 under an agreement dated 18 December 2023. Its Schedule 13D/A filed on 28 February 2024 reports 418,833,157 NIO Class A ordinary shares as of 26 February 2024 — 21.7% of the Class A shares and about 20.1% of all ordinary shares outstanding — with sole voting power over all of them. CYVN appointed two directors to NIO's board on 7 February 2024.

Other recorded holdings in NIO.
Holder	What it is	Share	Since	What the source says
William Li	holds a stake in	not published	November 2014	William Li (Li Bin) founded NIO in November 2014 and is its chairman and chief executive. His shareholding fell to about 11% after NIO issued additional American depositary shares in December 2020; NIO has issued shares repeatedly since, so no current percentage is asserted here. He holds Class C ordinary shares, a class NIO reports separately from its Class A shares.
Tencent Holdings Limited	holds a stake in	not published	not published	Tencent has been a NIO shareholder since before the 2018 New York listing; the date it first invested is not verified here. Its stake rose from 15.1% to 16.3% between 10 June and 8 July 2020, then fell to about 11% after NIO's December 2020 share offering. NIO has issued shares repeatedly since, so no current percentage is asserted.
Hefei City Construction and Investment Holding (Group) Co., Ltd.	holds a stake in	not published	29 April 2020	On 29 April 2020 Hefei City Construction and Investment Holding (Group) led two other state investors in putting RMB 7 billion into NIO (Anhui) Holdings Ltd — 'NIO China' — for 24.1% of that subsidiary. The stake is in the China operating company, not in the listed parent NIO Inc., which contributed its core China businesses, valued at RMB 17.77 billion, plus RMB 4.26 billion in cash for the other 75.9%. NIO moved NIO China's headquarters to Hefei under the same agreements. Whether these holdings have since been bought back or diluted is not verified here.
Anhui provincial government	holds a stake in	not published	29 April 2020	Anhui Provincial Emerging Industry Investment Co., Ltd. was one of the three strategic investors in the 29 April 2020 round that took 24.1% of NIO China between them. The split of that 24.1% between the three investors is not stated in NIO's announcement.
CMG-SDIC Capital Co., Ltd.	holds a stake in	not published	29 April 2020	CMG-SDIC Capital Co., Ltd. was the third of the strategic investors in the 29 April 2020 round that took 24.1% of NIO China between them. The split of that 24.1% between the three investors is not stated in NIO's announcement.
L'imad	holds a stake in	17.9%	January 2026	In January 2026 the Abu Dhabi government folded CYVN Holdings into a newly created state fund, L'imad. A filing dated 14 January 2026 put L'imad's holding in NIO at 17.9%. L'imad wholly owns CYVN Investments and is itself owned by the Abu Dhabi government through the Abu Dhabi Ministry of Finance; Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan chairs it.

Stakes and ventures NIO holds

These are holdings that are not outright ownership, so they are not in the tree above. A joint venture is a third company the two parents built together: the percentage is a share of that venture, never a holding in the partner.

Shareholdings, joint ventures and licences recorded for NIO.
Holding	What it is	Share	Since	What the source says
Avatr	holds a stake in	0.67%	2018	A residue of the company's origin as Changan-NIO, a 50:50 venture founded in 2018. NIO stepped back during its financial difficulties and its holding was diluted to 0.67% by December 2024.

Brands

Brands under NIO.
Brand	Held	Origin	Founded	Models	Markets
蔚来NIO	directly	China	2014	5	10
乐道Onvo	directly	China	2024	2	2
萤火虫Firefly	directly	China	2024	1	3

NIO: questions people ask

What does NIO mean?: NIO's Chinese name is 蔚来 (Wèilái). The company glosses it as 'Blue Sky Coming' — 蔚 carries the sense of a deep blue sky and 来 means 'to come' — and states that as its mission in its own results releases. The three Latin letters are an export mark, not a transliteration.
Who owns NIO?: No single owner controls it. Its largest shareholder is the Abu Dhabi state fund L'imad, which took over CYVN Investments in January 2026; CYVN had built a holding of about 20.1% of all ordinary shares by early 2024 and L'imad's stake was reported at 17.9%. Founder William Li and Tencent are long-standing shareholders, and three Chinese state investors hold a minority of the China operating subsidiary rather than of the listed parent.
Is NIO Chinese?: Yes in substance. NIO Inc. is registered in the Cayman Islands and listed in New York, Hong Kong and Singapore, but it was founded in China by a Chinese entrepreneur, its head office is in Shanghai, its manufacturing and main operating company are in Anhui province, and almost all of its sales are in China.
Where are NIO cars made?: In Anhui province in eastern China. NIO's operating subsidiary NIO (Anhui) Holdings is headquartered in Hefei, the provincial capital, under the April 2020 agreements that brought in the Anhui state investors.
Is NIO sold in the United States?: No. NIO's shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange, but no NIO, Onvo or Firefly car has been offered for sale to buyers in the United States.

Sources for NIO

NIO Inc. / U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, NIO Inc. Reports Unaudited Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results (Form 6-K, Exhibit 99.1, filed 10 March 2026). Read 4 September 2026.
NIO Inc. / U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, NIO Inc. Provides December, Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Delivery Update (Form 6-K, Exhibit 99.1, filed 2 January 2026). Read 4 September 2026.
NIO, NIO Achieves 100 Million Battery Swaps. Read 4 September 2026.
NIO, NIO Enters into Definitive Agreements for Establishing NIO China's Headquarters in Hefei. Read 4 September 2026.
CYVN Investments RSC Ltd / U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Schedule 13D/A (Amendment No. 3) — NIO Inc., filed by CYVN Investments RSC Ltd. Read 4 September 2026.
NIO Inc. / U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, NIO Inc. Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2025. Read 4 September 2026. Source for the Shanghai principal executive offices, the three listings and the share classes outstanding at 31 December 2025.
Wikipedia, Nio (company). Read 4 September 2026. Finding aid, cited here only for the 2024 employee count, which could not be confirmed from a primary filing for this record.
CnEVPost, Abu Dhabi merges CYVN's stake in Nio into new state-owned fund L'imad. Read 4 September 2026.