Li Auto is offering preferential loan rates to customers who buy its models before the end of the year, a rare public promotional move by the company in the past few years.
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Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) began offering official incentives for car purchases even as its sales stayed strong this year.
Between December 1 and December 31, customers can take advantage of loan fees as low as 2.5 percent on any of Li Auto's currently on-sale models, the company announced on December 5.
Li Auto's current models on sale include the five-seat Li L7, as well as the six-seat Li L8 and Li L9. Its first production car, the Li One, has been discontinued. All of these models are extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), which are essentially plug-in hybrids.
Its first battery electric vehicle (BEV) model, the Li Mega MPV (Multi-Purpose Vehicle), went on pre-sale at the Guangzhou auto show in November, with an official launch set to be in December.
The discounted rate implies an annualized interest rate of about 4.58 percent to 4.76 percent, Li Auto said yesterday.
Under the promotion, the Li L7 has a down payment as low as RMB 48,000 ($6,700) this month and daily payments as low as RMB 170, according to the company.
The Li L8 has a down payment as low as RMB 51,000 and daily payments as low as RMB 181. The Li L9 has a down payment as low as RMB 64,500 and daily payments as low as RMB 229.
The three models are currently priced from RMB 319,800, RMB 339,800 and RMB 429,800 respectively in China.
Li Auto's sales have seen explosive growth this year, with monthly deliveries exceeding 40,000 units for 2 consecutive months, and a record 41,030 units in November.
In the January-November period, Li Auto delivered 325,677 vehicles, reaching its full-year goal of delivering 300,000 vehicles ahead of schedule, the company said on December 1 when it announced last month's deliveries.
"Propelled by the growing market demand, we will continue to strive for a 50,000 monthly delivery target in December with ample preparations in sales, supply, production, and delivery capabilities," Li Xiang, Li Auto's chairman and CEO, said on December 1.
The public offer of promotional incentives is a rare move for Li Auto, and may be partly due to pressure from Huawei-backed new energy vehicle (NEV) brand Aito's strong performance over the past few months.
Richard Yu, Huawei's head of automotive business, launched the new Aito M7 at an event on September 12, lowering the starting price by RMB 40,000 to RMB 249,800 compared to the model previously on sale.
The Aito M7, like all models currently on sale from Li Auto, is an EREV and is available in both five-seat and six-seat versions.
On November 27, Aito said the new M7 had accumulated more than 100,000 firm orders after 2.5 months on the market.
Aito delivered a record 18,827 vehicles in November, up 127.93 percent year-on-year and up 48.24 percent from 12,700 in October, according to figures it announced on December 1.
The new Aito M7 delivered 15,242 units in November, contributing 81 percent. The model has accumulated more than 27,000 deliveries since its September 12 launch.
($1 = RMB 7.1585)
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