Shares of Nio, Inc. (NASDAQ:NIO) surged in premarket trading, defying weak signals from U.S. index futures for Wall Street's opening.

The premium EV manufacturer confirmed on Thursday that its subsidiary brand "ONVO" will make its global debut on May 15, marking Nio's venture into the low-end market segment. The inaugural ONVO model, codenamed L60, will be a family-centric smart battery electric vehicle priced at around 250,000 yuan (approximately $34,600), falling below the company's average transaction price of over 300,000 yuan.

Nio stated that the L60 will rival the Tesla Model Y in the same segment, aiming to "redefine the standards of family cars."

In a separate announcement, Nio revealed the production of its 500,000th mass-market vehicle at its Nio Factory 2 in Hefei, Anhui province. The milestone vehicle, a 2024 ES8 model, signifies a significant achievement within six years, according to founder and CEO William Li.

The stock's positive momentum could also have been bolstered by China's April trade data, which unveiled a larger-than-expected surplus. Exports and imports surged by 1.5% and 8.4%, respectively, contrasting with the previous month's declines of 7.5% and 1.9%.

In premarket trading, Nio's stock climbed by 2.87% to $5.37, although it remains down over 42% year-to-date, according to Benzinga Pro data. Nio's domestic counterparts, XPeng, Inc. (NYSE:XPEV) and Li Auto, Inc. (NASDAQ:LI), also saw gains of 3.17% and 1.74%, respectively, in premarket trading, reaching $8.14 and $27.50.