- Li Auto CEO accused a "Japanese brand" of launching organized online attacks to damage the market reputation of its core products.
- The rare public dispute highlights escalating tensions in China's auto market following the launch of Nissan's NX8 SUV.
Li Auto founder, chairman, and CEO Li Xiang publicly complained that his company has been severely hit by unfair competition tactics, strongly hinting at Japanese automaker Nissan Motor's joint venture in China.
In two posts on his personal WeChat status on Saturday, Li accused a "Japanese brand" of hiring an army of internet trolls to maliciously smear Li Auto's products.
He claimed the rival used a massive number of social media accounts to fabricate false information and flood the comment sections of Li Auto's products, disrupting the company's normal operations.
Although Li did not name the competitor directly, widely reported screenshots of his WeChat posts clearly pointed the finger at Dongfeng Nissan.
Just two days earlier on April 9, Dongfeng Nissan launched its all-new NX8 sport utility vehicle (SUV), its first model offering extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) options, to double down on the Chinese market.
With an official starting price of 149,900 yuan ($21,950), the new model secured a massive number of orders within half an hour of its launch, driven by an aggressive pricing strategy.
During the NX8 launch event, Dongfeng Nissan executive Xin Yu repeatedly made direct and in-depth comparisons in his public speech between the company's new technology and Li Auto, widely regarded as the EREV pioneer in the Chinese market.
Leaked internal training materials and public relations briefings reported by local media further revealed that Dongfeng Nissan explicitly targeted Li Auto's Li L6 EREV SUV and Li i6 pure electric SUV as its core benchmark competitors.
The Li L6 is Li Auto's most affordable EREV model, while the Li i6 is its lowest-priced battery electric vehicle (BEV), both starting at 249,800 yuan.
In response to the sudden surge of disparaging content on social media platforms, Li Auto's legal department announced on Weibo on Saturday that it had completed all preliminary evidence collection.
The company said it will report the case to public security authorities and file lawsuits to hold the masterminds and perpetrators legally accountable.
Wang Qian, general manager of Dongfeng Nissan's new energy vehicle (NEV) brand, subsequently issued an official response to the allegations in an attempt to quell the escalating industry uproar.
In his response posted on Weibo, Wang said Dongfeng Nissan has always strictly adhered to industry rules and advocated healthy competition, adding that the company respects every peer, including Li Auto.
This fierce public relations clash unfolds against the backdrop of a special campaign launched by Chinese regulators since 2025 to crack down on excessive competition in the auto sector.
As China's NEV market shifts from incremental expansion to a zero-sum game, cutthroat competition among automakers has led to a sharp decline in overall industry profit margins.
The overall profit margin of China's auto industry fell to just 4.1% in 2025, hitting its lowest level since 2015, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
($1 = 6.8280 yuan)
