In the first two weeks of July, more than 200 Li Auto vehicles were privately exported to destinations dominated by Central Asia and the Middle East, its CEO said.
(Image from Li Auto CEO Li Xiang's Weibo.)
Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) will continue to steer clear of overseas markets for the next year or two, although it has seen some demand for its vehicles overseas.
In the first two weeks of July, more than 200 Li Auto vehicles were exported by private individuals, the company's founder, chairman, and CEO Li Xiang said late last night on Weibo.
Li Auto found after a detailed investigation that Central Asia and the Middle East were the main destinations for these vehicles being exported, he said.
"Previously it was parallel imports (that were popular in China), now it's popular to parallel export," he said.
Nonetheless, Li Auto will not enter overseas markets before 2025 and will focus all its resources on achieving the 2025 target, he said.
In overseas markets, Li Auto will maintain its direct sales model, he added.
Li Auto's goal is to reach annual sales of 1.6 million vehicles by 2025 and annual revenue of 500 billion yuan ($70 billion), Li wrote on June 21 on Weibo.
Unlike Li Auto, Nio (NYSE: NIO) entered the European market in 2021, where it has opened several directly operated stores and launched multiple models.
Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) has also entered Europe and announced earlier this month that it is partnering with a local dealer to expand into Israel.
The Li Auto CEO provided an image in yesterday's Weibo post showing the company's five-seat SUV, the Li L7, priced at 31,800,000 tenge ($71,630) in Kazakhstan.
The Li L7 is Li Auto's least expensive model, starting at RMB 319,000 ($44,430) in China.
All of Li Auto's models are extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), with the other two -- the Li L8 and Li L9 -- currently starting at RMB 339,800 and RMB 459,800 respectively in China.
In the comments section of Li's Weibo, some users shared images showing the Li L9 also appearing in Kazakhstan and Russia.
($1 = 443.9500 Kazakhstani tenge, $1 = RMB 7.1802)
