Delivery of Li Auto’s L8 and L9 Delayed, Fuel Cards Offered as Compensation

Chinese new energy vehicle manufacturer Li Auto announced on November 27 that due to a supply shortage of core auto parts, vehicles that should have been delivered at the end of November as shown in the firm’s mobile app will be postponed until December. The models affected this time include the Li L9 Max and Li L8 Pro.

According to the announcement, the delivery of affected Li L9 Max vehicles is expected to be postponed for a week, and the firm will provide a 1,000-yuan ($139) fuel card for consumers as compensation. Li L8 Pros are expected to be delayed for two to three weeks, for which the company will provide a 2,000-yuan fuel card.

The company said that according to the current supply and production schedule, vehicles that will be delivered in December will not be affected for the time being.

Li Auto‘s L9 model was released on June 21 this year and started delivery on August 30. It is positioned as a large SUV with a price tag of 459,800 yuan ($63,878). The model is equipped with a 1.5t four-cylinder range extender and a 44.5 kWh ternary lithium battery pack, which can achieve 215 km of cruising range in pure electric mode and 1,315 km of comprehensive cruising range under CLTC working conditions, and the acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h is 5.3 seconds.

The Li L9 was praised as “the best family SUV under the price of 5 million yuan” by Li Xiang, the founder and CEO of Li Auto. Regarding the delivery performance of this model in October, the firm said that it maintained a strong growth trend, and that consumers’ reactions had exceeded expectations. It consolidated the market position of Li Auto in the price range of over 400,000 yuan.

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Another affected model, the Li L8, was officially released on September 30, and its delivery has started this month. The model is divided into two series, the Pro and Max, positioned as a family-oriented intelligent luxury six-seat SUV. The Li L8 Pro, which will be delayed this time, is priced at 359,800 yuan, while the more premium version of the Li L8 Max is priced at 399,800 yuan. However, since the Li L8 is regarded as the replacement model of the Li ONE, it once triggered rights protection action by car owners who had just bought the Li ONE not long before.

This model is also equipped with a new extended range hybrid system, using a 1.5t four-cylinder range extender, with a comprehensive cruising range of 1,315 km under CLTC conditions and a pure electric cruising range of 210 km under CLTC conditions.

In October, a total of 10,052 new cars were delivered by Li Auto, an increase of 31.4% compared with the same month last year. This is the seventh time that the monthly delivery of Li Auto exceeded 10,000 in a year, but deliveries in October decreased by 12.8% month-on-month from 11,531 vehicles in September.