The rise of Li Auto, the small Chinese electric car giant

It's called Li Auto and for us – understood as Westerners – it sounds like a brand new name.
In reality we are talking about a Chinese car manufacturer active since 2015, based in Beijing and specialized in the design and development of electric vehicles.
In recent days the company has recorded interesting data, from record sales to rising profits.
Enthusiasm over quarterly earnings and demand prospects also helped lift Li Auto shares 25% in Hong Kong trading, for the biggest one-day price jump in history.
Investors and analysts, however, are attracted by the company's growth margins and its road map.
Let's go in order.
Li Auto posted a gross profit margin of 23.5%, up from 22.0% in the third quarter and 20.2% a year ago, helped by record sales.
The lower average selling prices haven't hurt the company as much as experts expected, and that's thanks in part to its economy of scale and sound supply chain management.
Despite the strong competition, what helps Li Auto is its dominant position in the family SUV segment in the plug-in hybrid market and the popularity of its L series SUV, which has few direct rivals.
Li Auto, for the record, delivered a record nearly 132,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter.
Now, as explained by the Wall Street Journal, it thinks it can sell up to 800,000 in 2024.
Li Auto's moment Li Auto was founded by Li Xiang, a Chinese entrepreneur compared to Elon Musk for his vision of EVs.
Mister Li, Li Xiang's current CEO, is also extraordinarily wealthy, with a net worth estimated by Forbes at $5.6 billion.
Last July, among other things, his creation was listed for the first time on the Nasdaq stock exchange, with the shares opening at a price of 11.5 dollars higher than expected and raising 1.1 billion dollars , allowing the company to expand into the largest automotive market in the world.
Li Auto is known for its extended-range electric vehicles, which also feature gas-powered engines so the batteries can charge while on the move.
It also seeks to stand out in the competitive Chinese-made EV market with more spacious, family-oriented cars, such as its flagship Li L9 six-seater SUV.
The company plans to release its new L6 model soon, and will enter the all-electric market for the first time in the coming days.
Whether it can mimic the success of the hybrid engine in the more competitive battery-only market will largely depend on its new MEGA model, a family-friendly, high-tech all-electric MPV.
The identikit of the founder Li Xiang It is worth saying a few words about Li Xiang.
The founder of Li Auto was born in Shijiazhuang (Hebei province) in 1981 into a middle-class family.
In high school he is a normal student, certainly not the top of his class.
When he is attracted to the Internet and his life suddenly changes.
My teachers and relatives thought I was good for nothing because my academic performance was poor, so I opened a personal website to avoid being looked down on, the entrepreneur reportedly said in 2019.
Soon the boy starts earning more money of his parents (and his teachers), and thus decides to drop out of school and not take the university entrance exam.
His project became a business in 1999: a website called PCPop.com.
Looking for new areas of growth, Li turned to his other hobby: cars.
After various other experiences – and various vicissitudes – Li Auto was born in 2015.
The rest, including the lavish comparison with Elon Musk, is current history.
We might hear about Li Auto soon.
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