Li Xiang has become well - behaved.
As the saying goes, people can't teach others effectively, but experiences can. This saying might be the most appropriate description of Li Xiang's current situation.
On July 29, Li Auto officially launched its first all - electric SUV, the i8. Since the setback of the MEGA last year, this all - electric product has been highly anticipated by the outside world. This is a crucial moment for Li Auto to prove its all - electric capabilities.
An Li Auto owner told "Noise Reduction NoNoise" that after the launch of the i8, his first impression was that Li Auto was very "courageous". The appearance of the i8 inherits the design language of the MEGA and looks more like a compressed version of the MEGA. "But can the 'copy - paste' strategy really succeed? Will people get tired of the same design?" He said bluntly that when he bought a car in 2023, Li Auto was very impressive and there were almost no other options. But now in 2025, there are far more choices.
Exterior view of the i8. Source: Li Auto's official Weibo account
"Li Auto's current marketing strategy doesn't address the fundamental issues of electric vehicles," another new - energy vehicle owner told us. Whether it's the truck - collision experiment at the launch event or the so - called "big table" marketing that was ridiculed by netizens, it gives the impression that Li Auto is downplaying the functional attributes of the vehicle, and the real demands of all - electric vehicle users are not being met.
The lack of outstanding product strength is also directly reflected in the sales volume. On August 5, just one week after the launch of the Li Auto i8, the company officially announced the cancellation of the Pro, Max, and Ultra versions, leaving only a unified version with a unified configuration across the whole series. It said this decision was based on "users' complaints about the complex model versions and difficulty in making a choice".
For the i8, which has not announced the pre - order data for a long time after its launch, this is probably the most graceful way to deal with the situation.
Even someone as smart as Li Xiang might find it hard to figure out what went wrong all of a sudden. In 2024, Li Auto's sales volume reached 504,500 vehicles, still ranking first among domestic new - energy vehicle startups. This makes it even harder to explain the successive failures of the MEGA and the i8.
For new - energy vehicle manufacturers, all - electric technology is not an option but a necessity. Some choose to endure hardship first and then enjoy the fruits, while Li Xiang is the one who chose to enjoy first and face the hardship later.
01
The Magic of Range - Extenders Fades
Li Auto Urgently Needs a New Label
"Li Auto hopes to consolidate its position in the high - end family vehicle market through the i8. However, when features like refrigerators, color TVs, and large sofas become standard, the label of Li Auto's high - end family range - extender SUVs in the past no longer exists. Li Auto urgently needs to find a new label for itself," an owner described Li Auto's dilemma to us.
It was different when Li Auto first entered the new - energy vehicle market. At that time, the domestic family range - extender SUV market was almost blank. Families that were reluctant to accept all - electric vehicles first tried range - extender hybrid vehicles, and Li Auto's positioning was invincible.
However, in the past few years, the market share of the domestic family SUV market has been quite fixed and even compressed. "The family electric SUV market has a limited upper limit and a fixed lower limit," an industry insider once analyzed.
In February 2024, the stock price of Li Auto soared to HK$182 at one point. This was due to the excellent annual report in 2023, which showed that Li Auto's annual revenue in 2023 was 123.85 billion yuan, a 173.5% increase compared to 45.29 billion yuan in 2022. Li Auto became the first new - energy vehicle startup in China with annual revenue exceeding 100 billion yuan. After the release of the financial report, the stock price of Li Auto rose by 25% on the same day.
Since March 2024, the stock price of Li Auto has been on a downward trend
In March, with the launch of the Mega, the Hong Kong - listed stock price of Li Auto dropped to HK$116.6, a nearly 36% decline compared to the peak of HK$182 in February. The Mega was originally planned to compete with the Denza D9 and top the sales list in the price range above 500,000 yuan. However, at that time, the Denza sold nearly 10,000 units per month, while the Mega only sold about 1,000 units in its first month.
This was the first real - sense crisis in the development history of Li Auto. Li Xiang's test began from then on. Having been used to winning easy battles before, he might have realized that the magic of range - extenders doesn't work in the all - electric field.
When Lei Jun announced that Xiaomi would enter the automotive industry, he said on many occasions that most car manufacturers start with SUVs because it's easier. Xiaomi started with all - electric vehicles, taking on the most difficult challenge first. "Starting with all - electric sedans first, it will be easier to develop other models later." This experience comes from Xiaomi's mobile phone business. Lei Jun said that Xiaomi's mobile phones started with a light - asset model, which was fast but lacked a solid foundation. Now, Xiaomi is still making up for the deficiencies. When starting a new business again, Xiaomi decided not to take shortcuts.
Li Bin has also stated in public on more than one occasion that the ultimate technological route for electric vehicles is all - electric, and range - extenders and plug - in hybrids are just transitional solutions. Although the sales of range - extenders and plug - in hybrids have been considerable from 2022 to now, and NIO was once on the verge of collapse, he still believes that "in the long - term development of the automotive industry, the all - electric route is beyond dispute".
All NIO models on sale are all - electric vehicles
For Li Auto, which has fully benefited from the transitional stage, when the strategic direction of the hybrid range - extender route was initially set, Li Xiang must have anticipated the current situation.
02
Knowing All - Electric Is Difficult
But Didn't Expect It to Be This Difficult
Why did Li Auto make consecutive mistakes after the MEGA? One possibility is that Li Xiang shifted his focus to AI at the end of last year, paying less attention to the automotive business. Li Xiang mentioned his time arrangement in multiple interviews. He took a detour of "being only the chairman and not the CEO", which He Xiaopeng and Li Bin also experienced.
The relaxation of management will inevitably lead to organizational slack. In June this year, Li Auto's monthly delivery volume declined year - on - year for the first time, with 36,279 units delivered, a 24% drop. In July, Li Auto announced that the delivery volume this month was 30,731 units, a 40% year - on - year decrease.
According to a report by "Yijian Auto", some internal employees of Li Auto believe that since the upgrade of the Li Auto L series to the new version mainly focuses on intelligent driving hardware, with few other changes, the product strength has not kept up, which has affected the sales performance.
Of course, making fewer changes is undoubtedly more beneficial for cost - saving and improving operational efficiency. But from another perspective, it can also be seen as a kind of "laziness".
The three versions of the i8 initially launched. Source: Li Auto's official Weibo account
Under the double pressure of internal and external problems, just before the launch of the i8, Li Auto's sales and service, intelligent driving, and other businesses experienced significant turmoil. While lowering the annual sales target, the company also reduced the overall budget by 20%. The core of all these adjustments points to one goal - how to improve conversion rates and increase sales.
Despite the large - scale adjustments, and Li Xiang and his team emphasizing in public that the i8 is a sincere product "crafted over a decade", judging from the response since its launch, the remedial measures might have come a bit late.
This is more like a real - life version of the "tortoise and the hare" story. While the Li Auto L series was in its comfort zone in the past few years, other brands' large - space family SUVs have caught up. Models like the Leapmotor C16 and the AITO M8 have comparable configurations to the Li Auto L series. Even now, models like the Ledao L90 and the upcoming Xiaomi Kunlun will pose threats to Li Auto's all - electric vehicle series.
An owner said that he believes the product cycle of the Li Auto L series is coming to an end. With the recent restructuring of the sales system and the upcoming launch of all - electric models, more consumers will surely choose to wait and see. Optimistically, it will take at least until next year for Li Auto to return to the growth track.
"The MEGA was Li Auto's first failure. But judging from the result of the i8, Li Xiang might still not fully realize how difficult the all - electric vehicle market is," he said.
03
Li Xiang: Adaptable and Resilient
Although Li Xiang is facing a test, from the perspective of an entrepreneur, he is still an excellent founder with strong iterative and error - correcting abilities.
In other words, it's human nature to be proud and arrogant. But when the company encounters a major crisis, Li Xiang acts decisively and effectively without hesitation.
When the sales of the MEGA were severely hit in the month of its launch, Li Xiang quickly led a self - reflection and made adjustments. He then issued an internal letter to all employees, admitting that he had misjudged the development rhythm of the Li Auto MEGA and pointing out that the company had overly focused on sales volume and competition rather than user value. At that time, Li Auto established a sales orientation with "NPS" as the primary goal.
The so - called "NPS" (Net Promoter Score) represents users' satisfaction and loyalty to the brand and directly reflects their willingness to recommend the brand. A user said that from this promotion, it's obvious that Li Xiang attaches more importance to NPS than sales volume.
One example is that the launch rhythm of the i8 was quite restrained. Pre - orders started on July 17, and the product launch event was held on July 29. There was only an 11 - day interval between the first public appearance of the real vehicle and the launch. The dynamic test drive was available after the launch, and the time for finalizing pre - orders was more than 14 days. This avoided the public opinion fluctuations caused by the early exposure of the product's dynamic performance and gave users enough time to think.
People noticed that Li Xiang has become more humble since entering the all - electric vehicle market. He has put away his edge, patiently sought advice from others, and even imitated Lei Jun's style. Recently, his Weibo posts often end with questions, such as "Should I open a video account to communicate with everyone directly?" and "Or should I record a video titled 'Li Xiang Talks about the i8' after the launch of the Li Auto i8 to give it a try?"
From being outspoken and preachy at the beginning to taking a more down - to - earth approach now, Li Xiang's public image has quietly changed. On July 25, Li Xiang's first Douyin video was released, making fun of his once - famous angry outburst video. This would have been unimaginable in the past.
Li Xiang's first Douyin video
"He used to be very arrogant, but now he is more low - key and cautious," the above - mentioned interviewee said. Probably because he has realized the difficulty of the all - electric vehicle market, Li Xiang has more respect for it.
04
The Open Card of AI and the Uncertain All - Electric Road
In the new - energy vehicle circle, there is an unwritten rule that the initial pre - order volume can basically predict the later sales volume. Although pre - orders don't equal final orders and delivery volume, it is still a significant indicator. "The i8's pre - order situation indicates that it will be difficult for it to turn the situation around later. This model is unlikely to be the product that saves Li Auto's all - electric vehicle business," an industry insider said.
Although it's still too early to judge whether the i - series has completely failed in a longer sales cycle, the failures of the two all - electric models have cast a shadow of uncertainty over the company's future development. Many owners are worried that Li Xiang's thinking might still be stuck in the glorious era when Li Auto ranked first among new - energy vehicle startups. Now that the market landscape has completely changed, it's difficult to impress consumers with just brand appeal without showing real sincerity.
If Li Auto wants to maintain its high - end position without reducing prices, protect the sales of range - extenders and prevent the i - series from impacting the existing L series, and at the same time pursue high profit margins - trying to have it all will inevitably lead to a loss of product strength.
However, in the long - term future, Li Auto's core automotive business must not fail. Because Li Xiang has bigger ambitions in AI and chips, and the automotive business will be responsible for providing financial support.
