Readjustment of the ideal sales system: Abolish the five major war zones and return to direct management by provincial regions.

36Kr has exclusively learned that Li Auto's sales system has recently undergone a new round of adjustments.

The "Five Major War Zones" system, which has been in place for less than half a year, will be withdrawn, and the provincial direct management system will be reinstated. Han Xi, the former head of the Central Region, will be recalled to his previous position as the head of retail.

In addition, to provide more support for the sales system, Li Auto has established two new first - level departments. One is Marketing, headed by Feng Wei; the other is Sales and Service Operations, whose main responsibility is to coordinate all sales and service departments horizontally to ensure the high - quality achievement of sales and service goals, and it is led by Ma Donghui.

There has been widespread speculation online that Li Xiang himself will return to the sales system. However, 36Kr has learned that after the adjustment, the Li Auto sales and service system is still under the leadership of Ma Donghui.

Previously, Li Auto's sales system had 26 sales provinces. The management structure was: headquarters, provinces, cities, and store managers. Each province independently set its own sales targets and strategies.

The "Five Major War Zones" system, which was implemented in March this year, has been in place for less than half a year and is now facing another adjustment.

During this period, Li Auto's second pure - electric vehicle, the i8, was launched at the end of July. One week after the new car was launched, Li Auto readjusted the vehicle configuration and price. The previous three configurations were unified into the Max version, with the price adjusted to 339,800 yuan.

Subsequently, a test video of a head - on collision between a Li Auto i8 and a truck attracted public attention. Consumers focused on the safety and integrity of Li Auto. A series of public opinion events almost disrupted the market rhythm of the Li Auto i8. As of mid - August, Li Auto had not publicly announced the specific order data.

Multiple salespeople at Li Auto stores told 36Kr that they were under great sales pressure. "Last weekend, the regional management issued an order, hoping that each store could get 20 new orders over the weekend." Compared with the popularity of the L series, the market response to the Li Auto i8 has been less than ideal.

36Kr has reported that Li Auto has set a sales target of 700,000 vehicles with its supply chain for 2025, including about 600,000 extended - range vehicles. From January to July this year, Li Auto sold a total of 234,700 vehicles, achieving 33% of the target. Among them, the sales volume of pure - electric models was 8,600.

Since then, Li Auto has continuously lowered its sales forecasts with the supply chain.

Moreover, Li Auto's extended - range technology and configuration strategies have been quickly replicated. Leapmotor has captured the market with the concept of "half - price Li Auto". From January to July, it delivered a cumulative total of 272,000 vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 149.8%.

The Wenjie M9, with an average price of 550,000 yuan, has diverted high - end customers with its intelligent driving technology and brand endorsement. Its monthly sales volume exceeds the combined sales of the Li Auto L7, L8, and L9. Li Auto's basic customer group of family users has been diluted and divided.

Another factor contributing to the decline in sales points to the newly adjusted "Five Major War Zones" system this year.

In March this year, in order to achieve the annual sales target of 700,000 vehicles, Li Auto merged the original 26 regions into five major war zones: East, West, South, North, and Central. Each war zone is responsible for the sales volume, profit, and NPS (Net Promoter Score) in its region. The headquarters no longer manages details but controls the national market through the data of the war zones.

The advantage of the "Large War Zones" system is that each province can formulate sales strategies according to local policies. However, on the other hand, due to the uneven levels of front - line employees, the war zones, which are out of the strong control of the headquarters, lack the ability for refined management and have begun to show cracks under the fierce competition.

There has been a situation of "order - grabbing" between war zones. Some front - line salespeople have started to attract customers with prizes, rebates, etc. in order to achieve more sales targets. Li Auto has tried to control such behavior.

However, with the increasing market competition pressure and the urgency of short - term sales targets, front - line salespeople can only continue to attract customers with prizes, subsidies, etc.

Currently, Li Auto has cancelled the "Five Major War Zones" system and restored the provincial - level team direct management system that once helped it achieve rapid growth. Han Xi, the former head of retail, has been recalled to his original position.

Li Auto began to adopt the provincial direct management sales system in April 2023, with Han Xi as the head of retail. In 2023, Li Auto delivered 376,000 vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 182%, becoming the sales champion among new - energy vehicle startups. In 2024, under the provincial direct management system, Li Auto's annual sales volume exceeded 500,000 vehicles for the first time.

This adjustment of the sales system indirectly confirms that the "Five Major War Zones" system failed to meet Li Auto's needs for refined operations.

When the management radius exceeds a reasonable threshold, Li Auto instinctively returned to the "provincial direct - sales elite" model that once created a sales myth. The comprehensive penetration of 26 provincial teams is Li Auto's genetic memory for capturing regional markets.