Li Xiang wants to be a top-three brand in China’s above-RMB-200,000 passenger market. On 26 August, at the second-quarter earnings call, he and president Ma Donghui laid out exactly how: two pure-electric flagships in two weeks, an in-house battery rolling out across the range, and a first appearance in Europe.
Two EVs in two weeks, a bigger autonomy leap
The refreshed MEGA launched on 2 September and the pure-electric flagship SUV, the i9, arrives mid-September, together covering the high-end multi-member family segment. The i9 rides an 800V 5C platform with a new in-house e-drive and Li Auto’s self-built 5C supercharging network, powered by the self-developed Mach M100 chip and a Qualcomm cockpit chip. The new MEGA adds rear-wheel steering, steer-by-wire and an active anti-roll bar to shrink its turning circle.
On autonomy, the Mach M100 chip has shipped more than 50,000 units; the Mach VLA model reaches Orin-X and Thor platforms in September. OTA 9.2 in October moves to a 3D ViT perception architecture with three times the parameters and 4.6 times the compute. By year-end, OTA 9.3 doubles VLA parameters, extends effective perception past 250 metres and tightens 3D spatial accuracy to within five centimetres.
In-house battery across the whole range
Li Auto has completed in-house development spanning cells, pack, battery management and thermal management, the last missing piece after its own motor and controller. The battery is already in the new L8, the updated L6 and the i8, and will reach every model within months. The company stresses this does not threaten ties with CATL and other top suppliers.
Europe, and the financials
Overseas, Li Auto starts Middle East sales in Dubai in September, debuts in Europe at the Paris motor show in October, and pushes a right-hand-drive i6 by year-end. On the numbers: Q2 revenue above RMB 25.6 billion, a net loss of RMB 1.7 billion and gross margin of 11.0 per cent. Cash reserves held at RMB 87.5 billion. Li Xiang pegs a healthy long-term gross margin of 15 to 20 per cent and will not pass raw-material cost rises to buyers.
For Europe, the Paris debut is the line to watch: a Chinese premium EV maker is about to park its flagships on the continent’s home turf.
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Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original CheDongXi report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience. The full original (in Chinese) is at https://chedongxi.com/p/375062.html.
Translated and adapted from CheDongXi (https://chedongxi.com/p/375062.html).