Li Auto pins hopes on first all-electric model

01 March 2024 - 13:17 By Reuters
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The new family flagship Mega Max, touted by Li as the fastest-charging mass-produced car, goes for 559,800 yuan (about R1,494,181), and deliveries will start on March 11.
The new family flagship Mega Max, touted by Li as the fastest-charging mass-produced car, goes for 559,800 yuan (about R1,494,181), and deliveries will start on March 11.
Image: Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images

On Friday Li Auto officially launched its first pure electric model Mega multipurpose vehicle (MPV), which founder and CEO Li Xiang expects to become the Chinese electric vehicle start-up's top seller among cars priced above half a million yuan (about R1,334,469).

The company also unveiled higher-priced new versions in its existing L series, despite a protracted price war in the sector, and announced plans to invest at least six billion yuan (about R16,017,915,760) in the coming years to build more than 5,000 directly operated 5C charging stations.

The new family flagship Mega Max, touted by Li as the fastest-charging mass-produced car, goes for 559,800 yuan (about R1,494,181), and deliveries will start on March 11.

The Mega, dubbed by the company as the “highway bullet train” due to its streamlined bullet-style shape, can travel 500km on a 12-minute charge.

The EV start-up also took the wraps off new versions of its L series of hybrid SUVs — the L7, L8 and L9. It hiked prices for a new version of the L7 Pro by 2.9% and the new L8 Pro by 2.8%.

By comparison, US EV giant Tesla and local heavyweight BYD have both delved deeper into a protracted price war.

The official launch of Li Auto's first all-electric model, unveiled at the Guangzhou auto show in November, came after the nine-year-old automaker beat fourth quarter earnings estimates on Monday as it posted its first year of profitability in 2023.

The company expected first quarter deliveries to range from between 100,000 and 103,000 vehicles, a 90.2% to 95.9% rise from a year earlier but down 21.9% to 24.1% from the previous quarter.

At Friday's event, founder Li also said: “Our goal is to, within three years, enable all staffers at Li Auto factories to get paid at the same levels as those in developed industrial nations such as Japan and Germany.”

The company's front line workers at its Beijing and Changzhou factories, including ex-servicemen and fresh graduates, are paid 30% higher than the local factory sector average, according to Li.


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