Targeting the pure electric market, LI Auto has finally taken its ambitious step.
On March 1st, at the LI Auto’s spring release conference, LI Auto’s first pure electric vehicle, the LI MEGA, was officially launched. As a purely electric MPV, LI MEGA has only one version, with a uniform retail price of 559,800 yuan nationwide, and will officially begin delivery on March 11th.
Regarding the LI MEGA, the chairman and CEO of LI Auto, Li Xiang, expressed confidently: It will be the next best-selling product of LI Auto, capable of topping the sales of cars priced above 500K yuan.
Worth noting is that, with the release of LI MEGA, three extended-range models of the 2024 LI L series (L7, L8 and L9) were also officially released; they have made updates in terms of intelligence and air suspension configuration, and overall cover a price range from 319,800 Yuan to 459,800 Yuan, and will begin delivery on March 3rd.
Consequently, while striving to enhance the competitiveness of its products, LI Auto has further explored its product price range, and officially opened its layout of “extended range + pure electric” category. It’s safe to say that the product system of LI Auto has been qualitatively changed with the addition of MEGA.
LI Auto itself has also officially entered a new stage of development.
MEGA: LI Auto’s report card of pure electric
In LI Auto’s latest product system, what role has MEGA played?
Price-wise, the LI MEGA, priced at 559,800 yuan, is undoubtedly LI Auto’s most expensive vehicle product; in terms of body size, the flagship-sized LI MEGA is a pure electric 7-seater facing large families; From the product category perspective, it’s a family tech flagship MPV.
All of these undoubtedly point to MEGA itself, reflecting the unique significance of the LI MEGA.
In the view of 42 Garage, MEGA for LI Auto, is more like a masterpiece showing comprehensive product strength in the framework of electric vehicles, or MEGA is LI Auto’s product report card for the era of new energy vehicles.
Based on this premise, LI MEGA can be said to have brought its best in every aspect of a pure electric product.
For example, for the pure electric market, range anxiety has always been a heartbreaking issue; and LI Auto has previously stated many times that charging efficiency is a core issue to be solved. Therefore, on MEGA, LI Auto has provided a complete solution to the range anxiety of pure electric vehicles:* Equipped with a battery of 102.7 kWh total energy, the CLTC provides an exceptional range of 710 km , thereby ensuring a longer driving endurance for the vehicle.
- To accommodate 5C supercharging capabilities, LI MEGA utilizes an 800V high-voltage platform along with the Kirin 5C battery pack, equipping the vehicle with a charging speed that delivers “500 km in 12 minutes”.
- In conjunction with the vehicle itself, LI Auto is developing a 5C supercharging network spread across the nation, having already built over 300 supercharging stations.
- In order to enhance range capabilities, LI MEGA boasts a design that achieves an extremely low drag coefficient of 0.215. Combined with the implementation of more efficient silicon carbide power chips, it achieves a low power consumption of only 15.9 kWh per hundred kilometers.
It’s worth noting that LI Auto has also mentioned plans to install franchised charging stations in urban areas on a large scale by 2024. With an average charging power of 300 kW achieved at city supercharging stations, a 15-minute charge can refill 500 km of range. Moreover, LI MEGA will offer a 20 kW DC charging option to fully cater to the daily charging needs of all-electric users.
On the whole, in a bid to resolve inherent range issues and charging concerns of electric vehicles, LI Auto has taken substantial steps both in product and charging infrastructure development—efforts that are abundantly clear with MEGA. Not only this, the strategy layout for high voltage pure electric and supercharging networks can serve not just the MEGA, but also other pure electric models that LI Auto may launch in the future.
Naturally, in addition to range and charging issues specific to electric vehicles, the distinctive outer contours of the LI MEGA present an unrivalled recognition, regardless of individual aesthetic preferences; it’s an unmistakable, eye-catching presence on the move.
Simultaneously, in terms of space and comfort, the LI MEGA takes full advantage of its 5.35-meter length and inherent benefits of its all-electric architecture, offering users 3,791 millimeters of available space length and ample leg and head room for third-row passengers. Moreover, features like the ‘magic carpet’ seats, co-passenger queen’s seat, independent electric massage sofas in the second row, smart home devices and superior audio-visual systems, smart fridge, in-vehicle 220V and more, provide superior comfort in the LI MEGA.
Echoing this sentiment, Li Xiang even stated directly: “With renewed upgrades to the fridge, TV, and large sofa, buying the LI MEGA is akin to trading the cost of a car for an entire suite—complete with a free home theatre and furniture ensemble.”
In terms of driving experience, the LI MEGA consistently adheres to the principle of comfort. Based on this, it is equipped with a dual motor intelligent four-wheel drive system and the Max air suspension system. Notably, because it does not contain a range extender, the LI MEGA is quieter than range extender models. Coupled with double-layer laminated glass used throughout the vehicle, it strives to create the “best vehicle quietness” as claimed by the company.
In addition, LI MEGA’s vehicle safety features strive for the “highest safety standards”, including side wind assist, HUD rearview mirror image, and streaming media interior rearview mirror.
In terms of intelligence, LI MEGA is fully equipped with dual Nvidia Drive Orin-X + Lidar and Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295P high-performance version in hardware. The software includes the AD Max intelligent driving system and the “Ideal classmate” powered by Mind GPT. It can be said that these intelligent configurations are the least different part from the LI L series.
Overall, from all aspects of the product, there is no doubt that LI MEGA is a “feature-loaded” product, but this loading is not blind, it is still “organic”. In the process of building this flagship MPV of family technology, LI Auto, while imbuing it with great product power, continues to target family users comprehensively.
As Li Xiang said, from its first day, LI Auto was born for families.
Can MEGA Disrupt the Market above USD 50,000? Why?
Li Xiang himself has high hopes for LI MEGA.
At the press conference, Li stated that LI MEGA is a revolutionary product designed for large families. It will become the next hot product of LI Auto and thoroughly disrupt the market of cars priced above CNY 500,000 (approx. USD 75,000). Specifically, in LI Auto’s vision, MEGA will become the top-selling product in the USD 75,000+ market, irrespective of energy source or car body form. This is set to break the traditional belief that high-end electric vehicles cannot become best sellers.
So, what is the source of confidence for LI MEGA to target and overturn the 500,000+ car market?
On one hand, this is related to overall market conditions.
In an interview, Li Xinyin, the person in charge of the LI MEGA product, told us that in fact, the market for cars priced at CNY 500,000 and above is about 600,000 units in 2023 in China, including all power forms and vehicle types. At the same time, the penetration rate of new energy in this market is very low, just over 10%. This implies that if the product is right, there is great growth potential for new energy vehicles in this price range.Interestingly, in 2022, the year before the launch of LI L9, the market scenario in the price range of 400,000 to 500,000 was similar (both were strikingly similar), with a total sales volume of just over 600,000 and a new energy penetration rate of just over 10%. However, after the launch of LI L9 in 2023, the market for 400,000 to 500,000 not only grew significantly in size but also tripled its penetration rate for new energy, which is now close to 40%.
In this regard, Li Xinyu believes that it illustrates a simple truth: market demand objectively exists, it’s just that there isn’t a good product supply. Therefore, under the trend of electrification and intelligence in the era of new energy, for the market above 500,000, LI MEGA hopes to provide such a product that meets user needs after making it well.
Worth mentioning is that after research from LI Auto, given the overall market size, the vehicles sold in this price range are primarily MPVs. In fact, the proportion of family cars is over 80%, and the more expensive the car, the higher the proportion of family cars – this is LI Auto’s confidence that MEGA can become the market leader in the 500,000 and above market.
On the other hand, this is also closely related to the product and pricing strategy of LI MEGA.
Garage 42 noticed that at the product level, LI MEGA frequently bench-marked Toyota Alphard and other products during the release session and also bench-marked BMW’s related models in terms of space, showing a significant advantage in parameter performance. In terms of comfort and convenience configuration, the “stacking” strategy adopted by LI MEGA also makes the benchmark models pale in comparison.
Must be mentioned here is that in terms of intelligence, where new power carmakers are generally better, LI MEGA’s advantage over these benchmark models is obvious, especially in smart driving.
Of course, in terms of selling price, the national unified retail price of LI Auto is 55.98 million yuan, compared to the overpriced Toyota Alphard and other expensive models, it even has a certain cost-performance ratio, which is actually another reason for LI MEGA’s attempt to disrupt the market structure above 500,000.
So, what is the pricing strategy of LI MEGA?
In this regard, Fan Haoyu, Senior Vice President of LI Auto Product, said that the logic behind it is actually very simple, that is, to put all the parts of the vehicle together and calculate the cost, and then take a reasonable, sustainable development gross profit for the company, and the price is basically set.
But Fan Haoyu also confessed that MEGA did have some internal battles during the pricing process, as the product team wanted to sell the car at a higher price, while the sales department hoped to be more acceptable to the market, and finally decided on this price.Thus, he emphasized that from a fundamental perspective, many traditional car models, despite their low cost, have a high vehicle premium. This is unsustainable in the Chinese market due to intense competition. However, it’s also unsustainable to keep prices too low just to boost sales when there’s little profit margin. Hence, a balance is essential.
He further stressed that the LI MEGA only has one configuration and price positioning, initially contemplating whether to add several configuration combinations. But eventually, given this price range, consumers are not sensitive to a difference of one or two thousand, they care more about getting the best product outright with very little deliberation or choice. Therefore, only one configuration and pricing option was finally offered.
It’s worth mentioning that in line with the goal of hitting over 500,000 in sales, LI MEGA is well-prepared in terms of production capacity.
Regarding this issue, a representative from LI Auto informed us that LI Auto has built a new factory in Beijing for its all-electric product line and has ample production capacity. LI Auto has also made specific preparations for the expected sales of MEGA itself; Furthermore, LI Auto’s supply chain and factories do have a certain degree of flexibility, which ensures they can meet the demand if the market expands further.
LI Auto’s 3.0 era has officially begun
Without a doubt, MEGA is a milestone product for LI Auto and the undisputed star of this spring launch.
Nevertheless, it’s important not to overlook the 2024 series LI L models released this time, which are set to be the real sales force for LI Auto moving forward. After all, from a product perspective, the 2024 LI L9, LI L8, and LI L9 have all offered very competitive upgrades.
For example, all three models of the released 2024 LI L series come standard with magic carpet air suspension, all have upgraded comfort features, and all have upgraded Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 chips. Moreover, the Max versions of the three models are equipped with a range-extension electric system with a 52.3 degree battery. The Pro and Max versions of both the 2024 LI L7 and 2024 LI L8 have AD Max…
In summary, the configurations of the three models of the 2024 LI L series have improved significantly while the prices have remained stable. It can be nearly confirmed that these models will continue to be the main sales force for LI Auto after their launch, given the significantly improved product capabilities at stable prices.
While the LI MEGA can contribute to sales, considering the market volume of the price segment above 500,000, it doesn’t really need to shoulder a heavy sales task – after all, on the fully electric product lineup, LI Auto will launch several M series models this year, which will also take on LI Auto’s annual sales target together with the LI L Series.
It’s worth noting that MEGA has already set the tone for the M series of pure electric vehicles that will be launched this year.
Based on this context, we can gradually see: the ‘Electric Strategy’ in LI Auto’s ‘Dual Energy Strategy’, which is to adopt the energy strategy of ‘Range Extender’ and ‘High Voltage Pure Electric’ simultaneously, has already started to officially land, and will complete the initial layout this year; at the same time, the ‘Intelligence Strategy’ in LI Auto’s ‘Dual Energy Strategy’ has already fully penetrated into LI Auto’s range-extended models and pure electric models.
This is a transformative node in the development journey of LI Auto.
Looking back, through LI ONE, LI Auto completed the development process from 0 to 1 from 2018 to 2022, which is the process of LI Auto establishing its system and gaining a firm foothold in the auto industry, a relatively long process that we call LI Auto’s 1.0 era.
Through the LI L Series, LI Auto underwent the transition from a single range extender product to a complete range extender product ecosystem from 2022 to 2023, achieving ongoing production of hit models, explosive overall sales, and successful capture of a high ranking position in the new energy market above 300,000, and helping LI Auto to become a leading new power automaker in China in terms of revenue and profit, which we call LI Auto’s 2.0 era.
Now, with the launch of LI MEGA, LI Auto has officially entered the development stage of range extender + pure electric dual line products operating in parallel, wherein the range extender products continue to hold sales steady through specification upgrades, while pure electric products continue to adopt a price down strategy from high to low, with some differences between the two, but also a high degree of synergy in charging infrastructure and supply chain – hence, this will bring new and deeper challenges and changes to LI Auto’s entire supply chain system, infrastructure system, organizational system, and technical system.
We call this stage LI Auto’s 3.0 era.
Of course, this phase has just begun, therefore LI Auto still has a lot of work to do. For example, in terms of energy replenishment infrastructure, LI Auto plans to invest over 6 billion yuan in the future to construct over 5,000 direct 5C charging stations, covering 95% of highways and major national roads nationwide.In terms of intelligence, LI Auto plans to make considerable investment in the next two years. In regards to smart driving, this year in the first half, LI Auto’s AD Max with full-scene intelligent driving will be achievable on the roads of all cities nationwide, and even globally in the future…
All these are still a long way off, but not unreachable.
For LI Auto, its product layout, including “1 Super Flagship + 5 extended-range electric vehicles + 5 high-voltage pure electric vehicles”, has been set to be realized by 2025. Meanwhile, the Super Flagship has already been unveiled. However, prior to finalizing the above product layout, LI Auto aims to launch the L6 and M series products in 2024, thereby achieving a sales target of 800,000 units.
From this perspective, the launch of MEGA is essentially the starting gun for LI Auto’s sales burst in 2024; as of now, the gun has been fired, and LI Auto’s sales onslaught has already begun.
This article is a translation by AI of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.