Li Xiang responds to everything, aims for 500,000 annual sales, previews the pure-electric flagship, and also talks about executives leaving and price increases.
500,000 units, over 20% growth! Li Auto has announced its sales target for 2026.
According to CheDongXi on March 12th, just now, Li Xiang, the CEO of Li Auto, stated during the Q4 and full - year 2025 earnings conference call that Li Auto aims to achieve over 20% growth compared to last year in 2026.
Considering that the total delivery volume in 2025 was 406,300 units, Li Auto's sales target for 2026 will reach approximately 500,000 units.
To achieve this growth target, Li Auto has formulated a "3 + 2" growth strategy. Among them, the three main areas of focus are to manage the sales system well, ensure the successful replacement of the L - series, mainly the L9, and promote the stable increase in the volume of pure - electric models.
Specifically, Li Auto will implement a store partner mechanism in sales, train a large number of store managers with an annual income of one million yuan, and strive to see an improvement in sales operations in the third quarter of this year.
Li Xiang, CEO of Li Auto
In terms of new cars, the new Li L9 series will be launched in the second quarter of this year. The monthly delivery capacity of the pure - electric model i6 will reach 20,000 units. The pure - electric flagship SUV, Li i9, will be launched in the second half of this year. The batteries installed in this year's models will come from Li Auto's self - produced batteries at its factory and CATL.
Li Xiang also mentioned two other auxiliary strategies, namely, realizing the R & D achievements in the intelligent field and expanding into overseas markets. 2026 is the first year for Li Auto to officially layout overseas, and there will be significant growth and expansion overseas.
In addition, the management, including Li Xiang and Ma Donghui, the president of Li Auto, also responded to issues that the industry is concerned about, such as the reform of the intelligent driving organization, executives leaving to start businesses, and the increase in parts prices.
Today, Li Auto released its 2025 financial report. The annual revenue was 112.3 billion yuan. This is the third consecutive year that Li Auto's revenue has exceeded 100 billion yuan. At the same time, Li Auto has achieved profitability for three consecutive years. The net profit in 2025 was 1.1 billion yuan, leading among new - energy vehicle startups.
However, Li Auto's revenue, net profit, and vehicle gross profit margin showed some changes in 2025. The revenue in 2025 decreased by 22.3% year - on - year, the net profit decreased by 85.8% year - on - year, and the vehicle gross profit margin decreased from 19.8% in 2024 to 17.9% in 2025.
In this situation, Li Auto completed a comprehensive reconstruction from an automobile enterprise to an embodied intelligent enterprise. The R & D investment in the past year reached 11.3 billion yuan, with an average monthly investment of nearly 1 billion yuan, a record high. Among them, the investment related to AI accounted for 50%.
As of the end of 2025, Li Auto's cash reserve reached 101.2 billion yuan, remaining strong, providing a solid foundation for Li Auto's service network construction, global layout, and AI transformation.
Li Auto's financial data in 2025
As of the time of publication, Li Auto's US - listed stock price rose 1%, reaching $18.475 per share (approximately 126.9 yuan per share).
Li Auto's US - listed stock price
01. Aiming for an annual sales target of 500,000 units, Li Xiang released six key points
The information content of Li Auto's Q4 and full - year earnings conference call is extremely rich!
The management, including Li Xiang and Ma Donghui, the president of Li Auto, made detailed responses to this year's sales target, key tasks, new car plans, etc. of Li Auto, and also responded to issues that the industry is highly concerned about, such as the adjustment of the intelligent driving organizational structure, the reform of battery supply, and how to deal with the increase in parts costs.
1. May strive for an annual sales target of 500,000 units in 2026
It is worth noting that Li Xiang confirmed this year's sales target at the earnings conference.
He said, "Due to the fierce market competition and the current market situation, there are more new cars priced over 200,000 yuan this year than in previous years, but the overall market growth is very limited." After comprehensive consideration, Li Auto's goal in 2026 is to achieve over 20% growth compared to last year.
Considering that the total delivery volume in 2025 was 406,300 units, Li Auto's sales target for 2026 will reach approximately 500,000 units.
To achieve this goal, Li Xiang said that three aspects of work need to be done well: manage the sales system well, ensure the release and delivery of the L - series represented by the L9, and promote the stable increase in the volume of pure - electric models.
2. Train a large number of store managers with an annual income of one million yuan, with income three times that of the industry
Li Xiang introduced some recent reforms in Li Auto's sales system.
He said, "Since the third quarter of last year, we have been exploring how to open stores of higher quality. We are result - oriented, using sales volume and per - capita output as the measurement criteria, and have made a series of effective changes."
In March this year, Li Auto officially launched the store partner plan. The stores have become the basic business units, and excellent store managers have real management decision - making power and profit - sharing rights. They have transformed from traditional sales management roles to real store operators.
Li Auto stores
Li Xiang also set a goal for training excellent store managers: "In the current environment where most car companies are not making money this year, we hope to train a large number of store managers with an annual income of over one million yuan, making the income of excellent store managers three times that of the industry, and also ensuring the stability of the company's order volume and delivery volume from the aspect of sales ability."
In response, Ma Donghui said that the previous online rumor that "Li Auto plans to close about 100 stores in 2026" is false. Ma Donghui said that Li Auto is only closing some underperforming stores, which is within the normal range.
He also further introduced the store partner mechanism implemented by Li Auto, hoping to develop a business model with Li Auto's characteristics. On the one hand, it adheres to direct sales, and on the other hand, it delegates management decision - making power and profit - sharing rights, striving to see an improvement and enhancement in sales operations in the third quarter of this year.
3. The monthly delivery volume of i6 is expected to reach 20,000 units, and i9 will be launched in the second half of the year
In terms of product planning, Li Xiang first previewed the new L - series cars.
In the second quarter of this year, Li Auto will launch the new Li L9 series. The new cars will be standard - equipped with an 800V platform and 5C ultra - fast charging technology, and will be equipped with a new - generation full - stack self - developed extended - range 3.0 system. Li Auto will also globally launch an AI - intelligent oil maintenance system, achieving an ultra - long maintenance cycle of "3 years/30,000 kilometers".
Li Xiang introduces the new Li L9
The top - of - the - line Livis version of the Li L9 is priced at 559,800 yuan and will be equipped with two automotive - grade 5nm self - developed Mach 100 chips by Li Auto, with an effective computing power 5 - 6 times that of Thor - U, realizing the integration of self - developed algorithms and self - developed computing power.
The volume of Li Auto's pure - electric models is also continuously increasing. Li Xiang introduced the upcoming important new car. The pure - electric flagship SUV, Li i9, will be launched in the second half of 2026.
Suspected spy photos of the Li i9 camouflaged car (source: see watermark)
Ma Donghui also mentioned that the order volume of the i8 in March increased by 180% compared to the same period in January. The supply - chain issues of the i6 have been completely resolved, and the monthly delivery capacity of the Li i6 will reach 20,000 units in the future.
4. Consider comprehensively for reasonable pricing and absorb the price - increase pressure internally
Recently, the increase in parts prices in the industry has had a significant impact on the cost per vehicle.
In response, Ma Donghui said that the increase in battery and core parts prices this year has had a significant impact on the cost per vehicle.
Li Auto will maintain coordination with its supply partners, sign long - term agreements with partners to lock in prices or shares in advance. If there is a price - adjustment mechanism, it will be strictly implemented in accordance with the contract. If there is no price - adjustment mechanism, it will share the cost with suppliers.
In addition, Li Auto will try to absorb the external price - increase pressure internally through measures such as R & D efficiency improvement.
Moreover, Li Auto will comprehensively consider parts costs, user value, etc. to reasonably price new models, and is confident that through a series of measures, the impact of raw materials can be controlled within a reasonable range.
5. Changes in battery supply
At the meeting, Ma Donghui also confirmed that Li Auto is making changes in battery supply.
This year, all Li Auto models will have two types of batteries. One is the self - produced battery from Li Auto's factory, and the other is the battery from CATL. No matter which battery it is, it needs to meet Li Auto's standards.
6. The efficiency soars after the adjustment of intelligent driving, and responds to executives leaving to start businesses
Li Xiang also responded to the recent progress of the adjustment in the intelligent driving organizational structure.
He said that the new intelligent driving team structure "is extremely efficient. The training efficiency of the intelligent driving model has changed from one iteration every two weeks to one iteration per day", effectively solving the problem of departmental barriers. It can ensure that each department performs its duties and also solves the problem of overstepping boundaries, making resource allocation more reasonable and efficient.
Li Xiang also supplemented his response to the recent discussion about former executives of Li Auto leaving to start businesses.
On the one hand, the former No. 1 and No. 2 managers of Li Auto who went out to start businesses have been well - received in the market. Li Xiang said, "Here, I also congratulate them. I hope that every key person from Li Auto can perform better after going out."
Lang Xianpeng, the former head of Li Auto's assisted driving, recently left the company
On the other hand, some young technical and business managers within the company have got opportunities. A large number of post - 90s and post - 95s employees have taken on key positions, building a solid talent foundation. This is a very good win - win situation for Li Auto.
In addition, a large number of post - 00s recruited by Li Auto in the past three years have become the core backbones of its new technical solutions. This is the most important sign that Li Auto is confident about the next 10 years.
02. Net profit drops by 80%, but achieves profitability for three consecutive years
Judging from the 2025 annual report just released by Li Auto, in 2025, Li Auto still led among new - energy vehicle startups in many performance indicators.
In terms of revenue, Li Auto's total revenue in 2025 was 112.3 billion yuan, a decrease of 22.3% compared to 144.5 billion yuan in 2024. In terms of vehicle sales revenue, Li Auto's revenue in 2025 was 106.7 billion yuan, a decrease of 23% compared to 2024.
