China's Li Auto pins hopes on first all-electric model (updated)
01/03/2024 09:48
(Recasts throughout with new MPV price, new car versions and
context)
BEIJING, March 1 (Reuters) - Li Auto 2015.HK
officially launched on Friday its first pure electric model MEGA
multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), which founder and CEO Li Xiang
expects to become the Chinese electric vehicle startup's top
seller among cars priced above half a million yuan.
The company also unveiled some higher-priced new versions in
its existing L series, despite a protracted price war in the
sector, and announced plans to invest at least 6 billion yuan
($833.6 million) in the coming years to build more than 5,000
directly operated 5C charging stations.
The new family flagship MEGA Max, touted by Li as the
fastest-charging mass-produced car, goes for 559,800 yuan, and
deliveries will start on March 11.
The MEGA, dubbed by company as the "highway bullet train"
due to its streamlined bullet-style shape, can travel 500
kilometres (311 miles) on a 12-minute charge.
The EV startup also took the wraps off new versions of its L
series of hybrid SUVs - the L7, L8 and L9. It hiked prices for a
new version of the L7 Pro by 2.9% and the new L8 Pro by 2.8%.
By comparison, U.S. EV giant Tesla TSLA.O and local
heavyweight BYD 002594.SZ have both delved deeper into a
protracted price war.
The official launch of Li Auto's first all-electric model,
first unveiled at the Guangzhou auto show in November, came
after the nine-year-old automaker beat fourth quarter earnings
estimates on Monday as it posted its first year of profitability
in 2023.
The company expected first quarter deliveries to range
between 100,000 and 103,000 vehicles, a 90.2-95.9% rise from a
year earlier but down 21.9-24.1% from the previous quarter.
At Friday's event, founder Li also said that "our goal is
to, within three years, enable all staffers at Li Auto factories
to get paid at same levels as that in developed industrial
nations such as Japan and Germany."
The company's frontline workers at its Beijing and Changzhou
factories, including ex-servicemen and fresh graduates, are paid
30% higher than the local factory sector average, according to
Li.
($1 = 7.1980 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Editing by
Jacqueline Wong and Susan Fenton)
((qiaoyi.li@thomsonreuters.com;))