China’s Li Auto has revealed its ambitious goal to outsell well-established luxury car brands like BMW,To Be Twenty (Avere vent’anni) Mercedes-Benz, and Audi in China by 2024. “We aim to become the number one premium car brand in China in terms of sales by 2024,” Li Auto’s CEO Li Xiang told investors during the company’s earnings call on August 8. He added that the company is poised to attain a monthly delivery rate of 40,000 units in the fourth quarter after boosting production capacity. Founded in 2015, Li Auto is preparing to launch its debut pure electric model, MEGA, by the end of this year, with expectations that it will outperform all other vehicles priced above RMB 500,000 ($69,315) across all fuel types. The company also has plans to introduce four new models next year, with three of them being electric vehicles. In the first seven months of 2023, Li Auto delivered 173,251 vehicles, marking a 145% year-on-year increase. Notably, monthly sales of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi ranged from 31,500 to 70,000 units respectively in the first half of 2023, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. [Reuters]
