The seven-seat Li Mega MPV, to be priced below 600,000 yuan (US$82,819), will also be the first full-electric model built by the Beijing-based carmaker, after a sales boom in its four extended-range, hybrid, sport-utility vehicle (SUV) models.
“We want to create a “mobile home” for household use,” Liu Jie, vice president of Li Auto, told reporters at the Guangzhou Auto Show. “The Mega vehicle will become a benchmark for the country’s MPV segment in terms of driving experience and comfort.” The launch event was webcast.
Li Auto said pre-ordering for the MPV commenced on Friday and production will start in February 2024, with delivery expected to begin at the end of that month. The MPV will also be the first model to be assembled at Li Auto’s new Beijing plant, which has an annual capacity of 100,000 units.
Liu said the exact price of the vehicle will be announced in December.
“Li Auto’s SUVs have gained popularity among China’s middle-class consumers and we hope the MPV will lure wealthy customers, who are looking for a bigger family car.”
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MPVs are not a fast-growing segment in China’s car market. In 2022, a total 940,000 MPVs were sold on the mainland, down 13 per cent from a year ago, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
General Motors’ Buick GL8 is the leader in the segment with 126,838 units delivered to Chinese buyers last year, down 21.4 per cent from 2021.
The company broke its own monthly sales record for the seventh consecutive month in October, delivering 40,422 vehicles, 12.1 per cent higher compared with September.
For the first 10 months of this year, Li Auto handed 284,647 vehicles to mainland buyers, up 193.5 per cent from the same period in 2022.
In contrast, Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory delivered 28,626 units to mainland customers in October, a month-on-month decline of 34.2 per cent, according to the CPCA. It followed a 32.8 per cent month-on-month slide in September.
The US carmaker delivered 378,800 vehicles in China from January to October, an increase of 62.2 per cent year on year, according to CPCA.
The CPCA has predicted that the country’s EV industry will achieve a 50 per cent year-on-year sales growth in 2023, delivering a total of 8.5 million units to mainland Chinese customers.