Chinese NEV maker Li Auto will reach the 1 million car delivery milestone later in October. It took Li Auto almost 5 years to complete this goal.
Li Auto is a Chinese new energy vehicle brand founded in 2015. The first Li-branded car was sold in December 2019, marking its entry into the domestic market. Six months after the sales, Li Auto delivered only 10,000 cars. But then, its sales drastically accelerated. In November 2021, Li sold 100,000 vehicles to users. It took less than three years to sell 900,000 more units.
Li Auto 1 millionth car milestone
On October 1, Li Auto reported its cumulative deliveries reached 975,176 units. In 2024, Li sold about 38,000 cars per month on average. It indicates that Li Auto will most likely achieve the 1,000,000 car delivery in mid-October.
On October 7, a credible Chinese automotive blogger with the nickname “大D有态度” shared a photo of a plaque with information about Li Auto’s 1 millionth car delivery. Judging from the leaked photo, netizens asumed the official delivery ceremony will take place in Li Auto Shenzhen Nanshan Science Park Retail Center. Later, the blogger deleted the photo without further comments. We assume Li Auto asked him to wait for the official announcement.
However, another Chinese blogger “常青_CQ” said that every Li Auto delivery center prepared the same 1 millionth delivery plaques. To prove it, he has posted a photo of the same plaque with Li Auto Guangzhou Retail Center. So, it isn’t clear what delivery center will hold the milestone ceremony.
There is no information about the exact date of the delivery ceremony. But we assume it will happen in mid-October as most Chinese NEV makers increase their sales volume in the last three months of the year.
More about Li Auto sales
In the first 9 months of 2024, Li Auto sold 341,812 vehicles. According to CarNewsChina research, Li has the highest sales target achievement rate among other new energy vehicle brands. Its achievement rate is 71.2%. However, there is a controversial story behind the Li Auto sales goal.
Initially, Li Auto planned to sell 800,000 vehicles in 2024. However, the unsuccessful sales start of the Li Mega minivan (see specs) forced the company to revise its sales target. As a result, it was lowered to 560,000 – 640,000 units. But the sales volume was still lower than expected. As a result, Li Auto lowered its sales goal again to 480,000 cars.
If Li Auto hadn’t reconsidered its sales goal, it would have reached 42.7% by September 2024, 4.3% lower than the average goal achievement rate among other Chinese NEV brands. Anyway, it is still one of the bestselling new energy vehicle brands in China. Its bestselling car is the Li L6 EREV crossover (see specs). And the expensive Mega minivan is the brand’s worst-selling model.
