Chinese EV maker Li Auto's quarterly losses widens as cost rise - PingWest

Chinese EV maker Li Auto's quarterly losses widens as cost rise

Chinese EV maker Li Auto's quarterly losses widens as cost rise

16 hours ago

Chinese smart electric vehicle (EV) maker Li Auto posted mixed third-quarter results, vehicle sales for the company jumped 22.5% from a year ago to 9.05 billion yuan, but net losses widened to 1.65 billion yuan ($237.55 million) compared with a net loss of 21.5 million yuan a year ago.

Its sale rise was supported by new model Li L9, full-size SUVs that achieved deliveries of “more than 10,000 in the first full month of its production despite the uncertain macro environment and supply chain disruptions,” the company’s CEO Xiang Li said

“Li L9 has been the sales champion among full-size SUVs in China since its deliveries started,” Xiang Li claimed.

Meanwhile, vehicle gross profit margins came in at about 12%, down from 21% reported in the second quarter of 2022.

Domestic rivals Nio and Xpeng also reported wider losses driven by soaring inflation and rising material costs.

Looking ahead, Li Auto expected it would deliver between 45,000 and 48,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, representing year-over-year increase of 36.3%. As of result of the optimistic expectation, the Beijing-based company expected revenue would jump as much as 66% to between 16.51 billion yuan ($2.38 billion) and 17.61 billion yuan.

Given the best month of deliveries for Li Auto was 15,034 units, the expected deliveries of the fourth quarter is ambitious goal.

“we are optimistic that with rapid production ramp-up, rigorous execution, and responsible cost management, we will realize greater economies of scale and further drive down costs, putting us back on track to hit our profitability inflection point," Tie Li, automaker's chief financial officer, said.

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