Written by Matilde Alves | LinkedIn | X
Beijing-based carmaker Li Auto reported on Tuesday that it delivered 36,674 vehicles in March, an increase of 26.5% year-over-year.
The company, which is mostly focused on extended-range electric vehicles (EREV), has launched its first full-electric model a year ago, the multi-purpose van (MPV) Li Mega.
The company’s first-quarter deliveries stood at 92,864 vehicles, up 15.5% year-over-year. Amid the fourth quarter earnings results, the company stated in mid-March that it expected to deliver between 88,000 and 93,000 vehicles in the first three months of 2025.
Li Auto’s upcoming BEVs
In July, the company will launch a fully electric SUV named i8, its second BEV model. The i8 will follow Li Auto’s Mega MPV which was released a year ago. Earlier this year, pre-orders opened for the Li Mega Ultra, with further updates being unveiled at Auto Shanghai 2025.
Li Auto also announced that it is open sourcing its operating system, the Li Halo OS, becoming the first automaker in the world to do so.
Later this year, the Beijing based brand expects to launch model Li i6, also a fully electric SUV, as disclosed on an earnings call in March. The brand’s L series only includes plug-in hybrid models.
Overseas expansion
On the same earnings call, CEO Xiang Li shared that the company has “made progress in working with authorized dealers overseas”. Li Auto is “confident to achieve a major growth overseas this year”, with sales and technology “improvements” and “nimble marketing strategies”.
The Chinese brand is investing in Middle Asia and Asia Pacific, and expects to reach Latin American and European markets next. Last January, the company opened its first overseas R&D center in Munich, Germany.
Sales team restructure
Earlier this Tuesday, local media outlet 36Kr reported that Li Auto is making adjustments to its sales team as it plans to reach 700,000 vehicle sales this year. The Chinese brand is drawing from “regional management experiences of internacional companies such as Apple”.
The company said on Tuesday it has 500 retail stores and 502 service centers operating in more than 150 cities across China. It is also focusing on expanding supercharging stations, with over 2,000 in China equipped with over 11,000 chargers.
At the latest earnings conference call, the company said it expects the first-quarter total revenue to be between 23.4 billion yuan ($3.2 billion) and 24.7 billion yuan ($3.4 billion), which would imply an year over year decline of between 8.7% and 3.5%.
As of the time of writing, Li Auto shares are trading nearly 1% higher on Tuesday’s premarket session, at $25.43. Year to date, the stock performance has gained 5%.