Is the price of Li Auto i6 below 230,000 yuan? Company executives refute the rumor. This is going to crush competitors!
According to the media "Huxiu APP", "Li Auto provided a monthly sales forecast of 25,000 units for the Li i6 to the supply chain. The internal forecast within Li Auto is close to 30,000 units. And from supply chain sources, it was learned that the price of the Li i6 might be lower than 230,000 yuan (the part about price prediction has now been deleted)."
In response to this report, Li Xinyang, the person - in - charge of Li Auto's third product line, gave a direct response: "The reports about the'selling price and sales volume of the Li i6' are all false information."
Screenshot: Weibo @Li Xinyang
From a market logic perspective, the price prediction of lower than 230,000 yuan does seem unreasonable: the starting price of the Li i8 is 18,000 yuan higher than that of the Li L8, and the starting price of the Li L6 is 249,800 yuan. It seems quite "unprecedented" for the starting price of the Li i6 to be lower than 230,000 yuan.
Regarding the Li i6, Li Xiang revealed in Li Auto's second - quarter financial report that "he is confident that it will become the most competitive product in the mid - to - large five - seat pure - electric SUV segment." Ma Donghui, the president of Li Auto, even said bluntly, "The Li i6 is expected to become the volume - driving mainstay of Li Auto's pure - electric models."
Image source: Li Auto official
No wonder Li Xinyang responded so quickly — the official has high expectations for the Li i6. Although a price of "lower than 230,000 yuan" is very attractive, the official hopes to steadily create a hit product and avoid the possibility of being over - hyped.
The official has not disclosed the approximate price range of the Li i6. However, we can still make a reasonable guess about its price based on the known hardware information and brand highlights. Currently, multiple pieces of information about the Li i6 have been exposed. Perhaps we can integrate this information to predict the approximate price range of the Li i6.
Is the starting price likely to be around 240,000 yuan?
It has been confirmed that the Li i6 uses the same native pure - electric architecture as the Li i8. Moreover, the intelligent configurations of the Li i8 — the VLA driver large model and the intelligent cockpit upgraded to an "Intelligent Agent" — will most likely be applied to the Li i6.
Therefore, the body size and powertrain are the key factors distinguishing the two, and also the direct reason for the lower price of the Li i6.
The application information of the Li i6 has been released. Its length, width, and height are 4950/1935/1655mm respectively, and the wheelbase is 3000mm. There are differences compared with the Li i8, but both are positioned as mid - to - large SUVs. The difference in size is expected to make the Li i6 about 10,000 yuan cheaper than the Li i8.
Image source: Li Auto official
The battery is one of the most expensive components in a pure - electric vehicle. According to information from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the three versions of the Li i6 all come with an 87.3 kWh battery. Among them, the dual - motor version has a pure - electric range of 660 km, and the single - motor version offers two ranges of 710 km and 720 km.
In contrast, the battery pack of the Li i8 has a capacity of 97.8 kWh, 10.5 kWh higher than that of the Li i6. This difference in battery capacity is enough to make the Li i6 10,000 - 30,000 yuan cheaper than the Li i8.
Li Xinyang said, "We will match the price with the product value so that people feel it's worth the money." The logic behind this statement is self - evident: the Li i6 will try its best to continue the comfort configurations of the Li i8, but there may be some trade - offs in some high - end configurations.
Based on the configuration differences between the Li L6 and the Li L8, it's very likely that the Li i6 won't be equipped with air suspension and magic carpet intelligent suspension. Electric suction doors, rear - seat screens, and in - car refrigerators may be absent. Especially for the second - row seat configuration, heating, ventilation functions, and multi - angle electric adjustment should be available, but it's difficult to use the zero - gravity seats that highlight comfort in the traditional three - seat design.
The lack of these configurations may make the Li i6 about 40,000 yuan cheaper than the Li i8.
Image source: Li Auto official
Calculated in this way, the Li i6 should be at least 60,000 - 80,000 yuan cheaper than the Li i8. On the premise of "making people feel it's worth the money", Dianchetong believes that the starting price of the Li i6 won't be too low and may even be very close to the 249,800 yuan of the Li L6.
Moreover, the Tesla Model Y is the sales champion in the 200,000 - 300,000 - yuan pure - electric SUV market. The Li i6 is very likely to offer a more sincere price than the Tesla Model Y (starting at 263,500 yuan) to attract more users.
In conclusion, the starting price of the Li i6 is more likely to be between 240,000 - 263,500 yuan.
Without a precedent, can the Li i6 still be a best - seller?
The Li i6 is a more accessible pure - electric SUV. The official has high hopes for this new car, and the degree of expectation can perhaps be glimpsed from the officially released financial report.
Recently, Li Auto released its second - quarter financial report for this year. The report shows that Li Auto's quarterly net profit reached 1.1 billion yuan, achieving profitability for 11 consecutive quarters. As of the end of the second quarter, the company's cash reserve reached 106.9 billion yuan, indicating that Li Auto has a high ability to resist risks.
However, what really caught the market's attention in the entire financial report was the third - quarter guidance. Li Auto expects that the vehicle delivery volume in the third quarter will be 90,000 - 95,000 units, a year - on - year decline of 37.8% - 41.1%. The total revenue in the third quarter will plummet by 38.8% - 42.1% year - on - year, dropping to between 24.8 billion and 26.2 billion yuan.
Image source: Filmed by Dianchetong
As a car company with stable sales in the leading position among new - energy vehicle startups, Li Auto's not - so - optimistic guidance is indeed surprising. In response, Li Xiang frankly said, "The problem Li Auto is facing now is that when we make one move, our competitors make two moves."
In other words, Li Auto's update speed in technology, platforms, and products is not as fast as its competitors. And September is a peak sales season in the auto market. Li Auto is very likely to lose a lot of market share to its competitors.
However, Li Auto's investment in intelligence has achieved certain results. The VLA driver large model and the Intelligent Agent, which have reached the leading level in the industry, have been installed in the cars. Coupled with Li Auto's long - standing understanding of how to please family users in terms of configuration and experience, these two aspects are indeed much better than the Tesla Model Y next door.
Image source: Li Auto official
Some netizens pointed out that the pure - electric range of the Li i6 doesn't actually have an obvious advantage in the mid - to - large pure - electric SUV market. Dianchetong listed the 200,000 - 300,000 - yuan pure - electric SUVs and found that this is indeed the case.
The pure - electric range of the Xiaomi YU7 is 760 - 835 km. The pure - electric range of the IM LS6 is 650 - 750 km. The pure - electric range of the Zhijie R7 is 667 - 802 km. The pure - electric range of the XPeng G9 is 625 - 725 km. The pure - electric range of the Hyper HT is 672 - 825 km.
However, after interviewing multiple pure - electric vehicle owners, Dianchetong came to an experience: for users who want to buy a pure - electric vehicle, the prerequisite is that the range is not a concern. In other words, although the range of the Li i6 is not at the top level in the segmented market, the 660 - 720 km range is not weak at all. The Li i6 can still compete with others based on its configuration.
Based on Li Auto's current situation in the auto market, in Dianchetong's view, the problem facing Li Auto is not only the slow product iteration speed. Another root cause is that Li Auto has not yet established a firm foothold in the pure - electric market.
According to the latest news released by the blogger "Sun Shaojun 09", the new orders of Li Auto last week exceeded 9,000, and the Li L series accounted for as high as 80%. In the week before last, the Li L series accounted for about 70%. That is to say, over time, Li Auto's market performance in the pure - electric field is gradually declining, which just shows that the ability of the Li i8 to attract users is quietly decreasing, and it doesn't have the potential to become a hit like the Li L90.
Screenshot: Weibo @Sun Shaojun09
Of course, Dianchetong can't draw the conclusion that "the Li i8 has poor performance" or "Li Auto is not good in the pure - electric field" for now. After all, it was announced early on that the Li i6 will be launched in September. For users who are not in a hurry to buy a car, they may be waiting for the Li i6, which is why it has dragged down Li Auto's performance in the pure - electric market.
Conclusion
Of course, the above is just a rational prediction based on the currently known information. Considering that Li Auto now has sufficient cash flow, it is possible for the official to offer a more surprising price for the Li i6 to boost sales in the pure - electric field.
For the Li i6, which will be launched in September, Dianchetong hopes that the official can learn from the negative publicity lessons of the Li i8's press conference. Not only in terms of safety, but also in other aspects of publicity, more consideration should be given. Once it is associated with negative publicity, it may affect the sales of the entire Li i6 vehicle series.
Incidentally, before the powertrain of the Li i6 was announced, after seeing the Li i8 with standard dual - motor four - wheel drive, potential customers immediately asked the official to launch a two - wheel - drive version of the Li i6 that focuses more on range. Since the needs of potential customers can be met, the Li i6 really has a chance of having a surge in orders in the early stage.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Dianchetong", author: Dianchetong. Republished by 36Kr with permission.