Chinese luxury NEV maker Li Auto celebrates 1-millionth car built

Chinese new energy vehicle startup Li Auto rolled out its 1-millionth vehicle — an Li L9 SUV — from its Changzhou base in Jiangsu province last week, marking the company's significant contribution to the high-quality growth of China's automotive industry.

The Chinese luxury brand is the first among its startup competitors nationwide to achieve this milestone, selling 1 million vehicles in just 58 months, bolstering the confidence of China's NEV industry as it goes global.

Li Xiang, chairman and CEO of the company, said: "We focus on user value, creating products that exceed user expectations. The recognition and support from users drive our continuous progress."

Since the launch of its first product, the Li One SUV, in November 2019, Li Auto has targeted family users, leveraging its large six-seat design and range extender technology to lead in the competitive NEV market.

The range extender electric system can not only maintain low energy consumption but eliminate range anxiety, catering to urban commuting, long-distance travel and camping needs, creating a versatile travel lifestyle for family users.

When most models on the market provide five or seven seats, Li Auto prioritized the needs of Chinese families and introduced a spacious large six-seater configuration aimed in particular at those with two children requiring access to a third row of seating.

The Li L9 and Li L8, followed the Li One, which have adopted the six-seater layout, have consistently led sales in their respective segments.

The flagship MEGA MPV incorporates a low drag coefficient of 0.215 with a low energy consumption of 15.9 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometers, which, since its launch, makes it the best-selling new energy MPV priced above 500,000 yuan ($70,238).

Li Auto has rapidly grown over the past five years, focusing on vehicle design, research and development, manufacturing and sales, cementing its position as the top choice for Chinese families.

Products rely heavily on technological support. Li Auto remains committed to in-house development of core technologies, investing an average of 100 million yuan every three days in R&D since last year.

This investment has helped the company establish a leading edge in areas such as autonomous driving, smart spaces, electric powertrains and smart manufacturing.

Taking intelligent driving as an example, the automaker fully launched its map-free NOA (Navigate on Autopilot) feature in July, which can be used on navigable city roads nationwide.

Its end-to-end autonomous driving system with Vision-Language Model began as a closed beta with 1,000 users in late July and has expanded to 10,000 users now, speeding up the evolution of smart driving technology.

As of September, Li Auto had established 89 research and development laboratories in Beijing, Shanghai and Changzhou, enabling development and validation capabilities for materials, components, systems and vehicles.

Li Auto also collaborates openly with partners on key components, covering R&D, production and quality traceability. Through digital transformation and smart manufacturing, it shares massive data across the supply chain, enabling full life cycle traceability of products, which drives improvements in quality and performance.

As Li Auto continues to expand, more than 20 young partners on its supply chain, including air suspension supplier KHAT, LiDAR supplier HESAI, autonomous driving chip supplier Horizon Robotics and HUD supplier FUTURUS, have grown into industry leaders.

"We take pride in extensively using domestic suppliers. If consumers are confident in buying Chinese-brand cars, we are confident in relying on domestic supply chain companies," Li said.

The collaboration with local supply chain providers has promoted their technology advancement and boosted their global sales and competitiveness, enhancing the Chinese auto industry's global leadership and influence.

Thanks to rapid market expansion and continuous improvements in operational efficiency, Li Auto has become the first NEV startup in China to achieve annual revenue exceeding 100 billion yuan. It stands out as the only NEV startup in China to achieve profitability and is one of the youngest Chinese companies to enter the Hurun Global 500 list.

Listed in New York and Hong Kong, Li Auto reported a revenue of 25.6 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2024, a 36.4 percent year-on-year increase, marking its sixth consecutive profitable quarter.

In September, the automaker delivered 53,709 vehicles, up 48.9 percent year-on-year. For the first time, its sales surpassed luxury brands Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, making it the top-selling luxury vehicle brand in China.

It brought the company's Jan-Sept deliveries to 341,812 units, increasing by 40 percent year-on-year.

Li Auto's success is not just a corporate triumph but an example of the rise and innovation in China's NEV industry. It injects new vitality into the high-quality growth of the Chinese auto sector and showcases China's leading position in NEVs worldwide.