has an internal goal of 25,000-30,000 monthly deliveries and will aim to meet the goal in the second quarter, its management said last month.

(Image credit: Li Auto)

Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) began deliveries of its new SUV, the Li L7, on March 11, a month after the model was launched.

Starting today, deliveries of the Li L7 will begin in China to meet the needs of a wider segment of family customers, the company said.

With the start of deliveries of the Li L7, Li Auto further solidifies its market position in the RMB 300,000 ($43,440) - 400,000 price range as the luxury SUV brand of choice for families, it said.

Li Auto officially made the Li L7, its first five-seat SUV, available on February 8. Its other two models currently on sale, the Li L9 and Li L8, are both six-seat models.

The Li L7 is available in Air, Pro and Max versions, with starting prices of RMB 319,800, 339,800 and 379,800 respectively.

Li Auto said at the launch of the Li L7 that deliveries of the Li L7 Pro and the Li L7 Max are expected to begin on March 1, and deliveries of the Li L7Air will begin in early April.

Today's latest development means that the start of Li L7 deliveries is 10 days later than the company had planned.

Deliveries of the Li L7 Pro and Li L7 Max were the first to begin today, with deliveries of the Li L7 Air scheduled to begin in early April, Li Auto said today.

All of Li Auto's current models are extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), essentially PHEVs, which are considered to have no range anxiety and therefore have a larger total addressable market.

Li Auto delivered 16,620 vehicles in February, up 9.77 percent from 15,141 in January and up 97.53 percent from 8,414 in the same month last year, according to data it released on March 1.

Li Auto guided for first-quarter deliveries of 52,000 to 55,000 vehicles when it reported fourth-quarter earnings on February 27.

The company's delivery figures for February mean it is on track to deliver 20,239 to 23,239 vehicles in March.

Li Auto management said in an analyst call after announcing its fourth-quarter earnings that the company has an internal target of 25,000 to 30,000 monthly deliveries and will aim to achieve that target in the second quarter.

April will be the first full delivery month for the Li L7 Pro and Li L7 Max, and May will be the first full delivery month for the Air product line, its management stressed at the time.

When Li Auto launched the Li L7 on February 8, it also introduced a cheaper Air version for the Li L8.

The current starting prices for the Li L8 Air, Li L8 Pro and Li L8 Max are RMB 339,800, 359,800 and 399,800 respectively.

The Li L9 is still only available in the Max version, with a starting price of RMB 459,800.

(1 $ = RMB 6.9063)

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