Li Auto's deliveries slipped back down in April, after seeing a rebound in March.
Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) deliveries slid back down last month, after seeing a rebound in March.
The company delivered 25,787 vehicles in April, up 0.41 percent year-on-year but down 11.03 percent from March, according to data it released today.
In January-April, Li Auto deliveries stood at 106,187 vehicles, up 35.68 percent from 78,265 in the same period last year, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.
Li Auto's cumulative deliveries as of the end of April totaled 739,551 vehicles.
Li Auto had an unexpectedly weak start to the year, experiencing 2 consecutive months of declining deliveries in January and February and dropping to a roughly 1-year low of 20,251 units in February, partly due to the Chinese New Year holiday.
The company's deliveries rebounded to 28,984 units in March, as the effects of the New Year holiday subsided.
Li Auto is one of the best-known extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) makers in China, with the Li L7, Li L8 and Li L9 as its main selling models.
The company launched its first battery electric vehicle (BEV) model, the Li Mega MPV (multi-purpose vehicle), on March 1 along with the 2024 L-series EREVs.
However, the Li Mega suffered poor initial acceptance and the L-series appeared to be also underperforming.
On April 22, Li Auto lowered the prices of all models except the newly launched Li L6, with most of the L-series reductions in the range of RMB 20,000 ($2,760), and the Li Mega seeing the largest reduction at RMB 30,000.
Li Auto launched the Li L6 on April 18, offering Pro and Max trims, starting at RMB 249,800 and RMB 279,800, respectively, making it its least expensive model.
Yesterday, Li Auto said that cumulative orders for the Li L6 exceeded 20,000 units, 12 days after the model's launch.
Li L6 had delivered more than 2,000 units in the past six days, and delivery centers will deliver vehicles as normal for the Labor Day holiday, Li Auto said yesterday.
The Labor Day holiday is May 1-5 in China this year. As part of that holiday schedule, May 11 will be an extra workday, albeit a Saturday.
"Li L6, our first model priced under RMB300,000, has garnered widespread popularity among young families following its April debut. We will commence large-scale deliveries in May," Li Xiang, Chairman and CEO of Li Auto, said today.
"During the May Day holiday period, we will provide Li Auto users with complimentary charging services and cover the electricity costs at all our super charging stations. Also in May, we will roll out OTA version 5.2, significantly enhancing Li AD Pro and Li AD Max systems with more advanced and safer autonomous driving, automated parking, and active safety features, among others," he said.
Li Auto was originally targeting sales of 800,000 vehicles by 2024, but with the Li Mega underperforming expectations in its early days on the market, that goal will be difficult to meet.
Li Auto now expects to sell between 560,000 and 640,000 vehicles for the full year of 2024, down from the previous figure of 650,000 to 800,000, local media outlet Xchuxing said in a March 21 report, citing the company's meeting minutes.
As of April 30, Li Auto had 481 retail stores in 144 cities and 361 servicing centers and Li Auto-authorized body and paint shops in 210 cities.
The company has 386 supercharging stations in operation nationwide, equipped with 1,678 charging stalls.
($1 = RMB 7.2411)
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