The battle in the large six-seater SUV market has become extremely fierce. Xiaomi and Leapmotor are leading the way. Has Li Auto suddenly become an "old force" overnight?
The ideal of adhering to the path of success is becoming the "old - guard" in the iteration of six - seat large SUVs.
In the new - energy vehicle sales list in September 2025, Leapmotor, known as the "half - price Li Auto", delivered 66,657 vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 97.4%. It has led the new - energy vehicle camp for seven consecutive months and become the second new - energy vehicle manufacturer to reach one million in cumulative production.
In contrast, the "orthodox" Li Auto dropped to the sixth place among new - energy vehicle manufacturers. In September, it delivered 33,951 vehicles, a year - on - year decrease of 36.8%.
Image source: Li Auto
Why did Li Auto, which once defined the 300,000 - yuan six - seat SUV market with its "dad's car", fall into a passive situation of "rising first and then falling" in 2025?
The answer lies in the drastic changes in the market. From 2022 to 2024, Li Auto opened up the 300,000 - yuan six - seat SUV market with its precise family - oriented positioning. Its cumulative delivery volume exceeded one million vehicles, once forming a monopoly. However, in 2025, new players such as Leapmotor, Chery, Deepal, and Geely Galaxy entered the market intensively with differentiated products, tearing open a crack in the six - seat large SUV market dominated by Li Auto.
Li Auto's strategy fails: The old king trapped by the "parent - child label"
Looking back at the six - seat large SUV market before 2024, Li Auto's dominance was "phenomenal".
Its four models in the L series built an impregnable defense line in the price range of 200,000 - 450,000 yuan: The full - size flagship L9's cumulative delivery exceeded 250,000 vehicles; the L8 firmly held the top sales position in the 300,000 - 400,000 - yuan price range; the L7 won the championship among new - energy vehicles priced over 300,000 yuan; and the L6's delivery volume exceeded 230,000 vehicles right after its launch.
However, success and failure both stemmed from the "parent - child" concept. When Li Auto pushed the "dad's car" label to the extreme, it also put a shackle on itself.
The most obvious flaw is the serious homogenization in scenario innovation: From the L6 to the L9, the core design logic of all models revolves around "family travel", completely ignoring diversified scenarios such as business receptions and group outings with friends.
Image source: Li Auto
As a pioneer in the range - extender vehicle segment in China, Li Auto successfully opened up an incremental blue ocean and quickly established a user - recognition barrier with its first - mover advantage. However, as various automakers have entered the market, the once - blue ocean has rapidly evolved into a fiercely competitive red ocean. Any potential niche opportunities in the market have been quickly captured and filled by competitors, and the industry competition has become increasingly intense.
Li Auto, which once pioneered the market by "feeling the stones to cross the river", is now being besieged on all fronts by competitors who are "crossing the river by feeling Li Auto".
Among many competitors, the competition pressure brought by the AITO brand is particularly prominent. From the AITO M5 to the newly upgraded M7, the family flagship M8, and the high - end flagship M9, AITO's product matrix has gradually become clear and complete, and each model precisely targets Li Auto's core product lines: The AITO M5 directly enters the target market of Li Auto's L6 to compete for market share; the AITO M7 aims at the main niche markets where Li Auto's L7 and L8 are located; the AITO M8 and M9 are positioned higher, targeting Li Auto's L8 and L9, forming a comprehensive "encirclement" of Li Auto's core products.
Take the AITO M8, which was launched in April this year, as an example. Its market performance can be regarded as the benchmark of an annual "blockbuster": Only 45 days after its official delivery, the delivery volume smoothly exceeded 20,000 vehicles, and the cumulative delivery volume after four months of launch soared to over 80,000 vehicles. In sharp contrast, Li Auto has been in a dilemma of continuous sales decline since June.
The huge difference in their market performances clearly shows that the strong rise of AITO has significantly diverted Li Auto's core user group.
Beyond the external competition, the bigger problem comes from the internal wavering and indecision.
Li Auto, which originally hoped to open up a second growth curve with its pure - electric SUV series, has encountered many difficulties at the beginning of its pure - electric business.
The market response to the Li Auto i8, the first model in this series, has undoubtedly poured cold water on the expectant Li Auto. The selling price far exceeded consumers' psychological expectations, the complex version configuration settings, and the long waiting period before delivery have combined to become the "three major mountains" hindering users from placing orders.
Facing the disappointing market feedback, Li Auto quickly adjusted its strategy: It not only simplified the configuration system and returned to a single version but also launched price - cut measures. However, the loss of market trust and the impact on word - of - mouth caused by the initial failure are difficult to eliminate easily. The unsuccessful start of the Li Auto i8 actually reflects Li Auto's current dual dilemmas and deep - seated indecision.
On the one hand, its range - extender vehicle segment, which is the foundation of its success, is facing increasingly fierce market pressure. The pure - electric business urgently needs to show excellent performance to boost the overall morale and dispel the shadow over growth. On the other hand, the pricing red line formed by the L series as the core profit pillar restricts Li Auto's pricing strategy for pure - electric models. It is afraid that setting a high price for pure - electric models will make it miss the market, and it is even more afraid that a low price will impact the market foundation of its range - extender vehicles. This "dilemma" has made Li Auto struggle to balance between range - extender and pure - electric vehicles, ultimately falling into an embarrassing situation where it fails to achieve its goals in both aspects.
The "Warring States Era" of six - seat large SUVs has arrived
Li Auto's passivity is precisely an opportunity for other "new forces" in the six - seat large SUV market.
Recently, spy photos of several flagship SUVs undergoing road tests have appeared on the Internet. The six - seat large SUVs of brands such as Xiaomi, NIO, and IM Motors are ready to enter the market.
Some of these new cars being tested are brand - new models, shouldering the heavy responsibility of brand upgrading or exploring new market segments. Others are annual facelifts of classic products, and changes in their exterior designs and basic capabilities have attracted much attention from brand fans.
The common point is that these new cars, which are scheduled to be launched at the end of this year or the beginning of next year, will jointly form the "grand finale" of the 2025 market competition. Moreover, they are likely to be equipped with the latest technological achievements of their respective brands, directly demonstrating the current strength of the automakers.
As for Xiaomi's first mid - to large - size range - extender SUV (development code "Kunlun", possibly named "YU9"), the release time has not been determined. Some sources say it may be launched between the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, while some bloggers predict that it will be postponed to the second half of 2026. The Guangzhou Auto Show in late November may be its debut stage.
Image source: Weibo
Currently, the information mainly comes from the spy photos of the camouflaged test vehicles taken by netizens. Although the design details have not been made public, the exterior outline is clear: The vehicle is about 5.2 meters long, with a relatively high and square body. Different from the "sporty" label of the Xiaomi YU7, it better meets the needs of six - seat family cars and can provide more spacious seating space.
Image source: Weibo
Its front headlight group is different from that of the SU7 and YU7, which may indicate that the range - extender family will adopt a new design language. Some test vehicles seem to have an expandable platform on the top, and in the future, it may be equipped with a function similar to BYD's drone lifting platform. However, the appearances of the test vehicles exposed on the Internet vary, with some being more square and some being more streamlined. The final design needs to wait for the official confirmation.
The new NIO flagship SUV ES9 has been confirmed to be officially launched in the first quarter of 2026, and it will probably start to be promoted at the end of this year. The spy photos of the camouflaged test vehicle taken by netizens give people the intuitive feeling of "extremely large size" and "a colossus". Compared with the newly launched ES8, which is slightly lower in positioning and 5,280 mm long, the ES9 is larger in size.
Image source: Weibo
It is predicted that the ES9 will be nearly 5.4 meters long, over 2 meters wide, and nearly 1.9 meters high, approaching the "full - size SUV" standard. It is expected to become one of the largest new - energy vehicles available in the Chinese market. In terms of configuration, some bloggers have speculated through visual observation that it will be equipped with the same suspension system as the NIO technological flagship ET9. Considering the product positioning, technologies such as the ET9's "Tianxing Chassis" (including active suspension), wire - controlled steering, and the Jiuxiao Tianqin audio system may be applied to the ES9, and the passenger and storage space will also be further improved compared with the ES8.
The IM Motors LS9 has appeared in the list of applications submitted to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and its exterior design has been fully exposed. Due to its prominent size and imposing manner, it has been called the "Range Rover of Lujiazui" by netizens. This vehicle is positioned as a large - size SUV, with specific dimensions of 5,279 mm in length and a wheelbase of 3,160 mm. It adopts a new design language, and both the front and rear light groups are different from those of previous IM Motors SUVs.
Image source: Weibo
Its core selling point is the "Stellar Range - Extender System", which is equipped with a 66 - kWh battery pack and can achieve a pure - electric range of 450 km. However, when it was exposed several months ago, the "large - battery range - extender" feature made it very attractive. Now, as more and more range - extender vehicles are equipped with large - capacity battery packs, the IM Motors LS9 will face greater competition pressure. More configuration details need to be revealed at the year - end press conference.
In addition, models such as the Leapmotor D19, Chery Fengyun T11, and Denza N8L have also been launched recently. The "Warring States Era" of six - seat large SUVs has officially arrived.
The essence of the competition between the old and new forces is the iteration of demand
The new forces are launching fierce attacks, while the old forces are struggling to defend. However, labeling Li Auto as an "old force" does not deny its industry value. After all, it was Li Auto that precisely defined the product and carved out this niche market of 300,000 - yuan six - seat large SUVs.
However, under the drastic market changes in 2025, past successful experiences often become future shackles. The gap between the old and new forces essentially lies in whether they can break free from this path dependence.
Li Auto's path dependence started with the Li ONE. The "family user" has become its core label, and the subsequent iterations of the L series have always revolved around this label, gradually developing an inertia of not daring to step beyond the line.
Image source: Li Auto
When the market demand shifted from meeting a single family scenario to adapting to diversified scenarios, Li Auto was clearly half a step slower to react.
Actually, the game between the old and new forces boils down to the difference in understanding user needs. Li Auto's early success was due to its precise grasp of the "explicit needs" of family users. For example, it increased the wheelbase to provide more space and added child - related configurations for taking care of children. These were all at the level of "function satisfaction".
However, the new forces have moved towards the experience - based thinking: AITO found that family users also have business needs, so it developed a dual - scenario mode; Xiaomi noticed that young people value ecological linkage, so it connected the in - car system with smart home devices. The change from "providing functions" to "creating experiences" is the key to the current demand iteration.
For users, it's all about "wanting it all". Naturally, Li Auto can't withstand the pressure with only the single - product advantage of the dad's