Chinese automaker Li Auto plans to produce all three of its current vehicle offerings in its new Beijing production plant as capacity shortages substantially impede the company’s sales growth.
Li Auto’s Li L7, Li L8, and Li L9 successfully got into China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) latest batch of models with the opportunity to sell in the country on Friday. The public can proffer their comments about the list of models from July 14 to July 20.
CnEVPost reported that Li Auto did not change and key specifications of the three models from the initial versions. The only apparent change was only the production location, indicating the Shunyi district of Beijing.
It is worth noting that the Li Auto trio are all extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs). The company initially produced them at its Changzhou factory. According to the company CEO, Founder, and Chairman, the factory has six-day production and one-day maintenance weekly.
It apparently supported a weekly production rate of 7,500, which will increase to 8,000 units starting from the second week of this month.
About the new Beijing plant
The new production plant in Beijing was initially Hyundai’s first factory in China. Li Auto started developing its facility at the site in October 2021.
The 6 billion yuan project is expected to begin production by the end of this year, as per the government announcement at that time.
The announcement noted that the new factory could potentially have an annual production rate of 100,000 pure-play all-electric vehicles. On June 15, the MIIT published a document that shows Li Auto’s Beijing plant was allowed to build all-electric EVs and EREVS.
On June 17, at its first Family Technology Day, the company also revealed that its maiden EV would have the name Li Mega.
Li Auto’s sales performance
Li Auto sold 32,575 units in June alone, topping the 30,000-unit milestone for the first time.
CnEVPost cited 36kr’s report that Li Auto demanded its supply chain to increase its sales forecast for H2 2023 to approximately 240,300 units on July 5.
It must also be noted that the company is set to beat its 300,000 sales target in early 2023, with a potential 380,000 unit sales for the full year.
Even more, Li Auto announced plans to attempt to hit the 40,000-unit delivery target in Q4 2023. That said, the company is now improving the Changzhou plant’s operational efficiency to guarantee timely deliveries.
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Li Auto’s decision to build its current EREVs offerings to a new plant may aid the company in achieving its delivery target of 40,000 units in Q4 2023. It will also enable the automaker to increase its production capacity, boosting its sales performance in the quarters to come.
