By ZHU Xiaoyu
LI Xiang, CEO of Li Auto, has major concerns over the company's development. On Monday night, he wrote on Weibo that Li Auto is facing three major challenges: a severe lack of strategic focus, insufficient understanding of the complexity of the automotive organization, and incorrect assessment of the number of vehicle models.
Li Auto was founded to provide diverse, affordable, comfortable EVs to families. However, in 2017, when Li Auto was still known as Chehejia, it collaborated with Didi Chuxing to create the D1 Plus, a vehicle for ride-hail drivers. In 2019, the company discontinued the arrangement and introduced the Li L7, which proved immensely popular.
Li began company-wide restructuring at the end of 2022 with new divisions and a clearer delineation of responsibilities across units. This month, Li Auto introduced delivery teams for each factory, responsible for overseeing the entire process from research and development to delivery.
Initially, Li believed that annual sales of 300,000 would secure a strong market position, but this estimate has increased to 1.6 million (130,000 per month). The best Li Auto has managed since 2022, is three consecutive months of 30,000 sales - more than 100,000 short of Li's dream number.
Looking ahead, the brand's first all-electric MPV is to be unveiled at the end of this year in the segment priced above 500,000 yuan (US$68,400).
