Ambition Upgraded, Li Xiang Unveils a New Story

Author | Chai Xuchen

Editor | Wang Xiaojun

“Li Xiang's annual salary is 639 million.”

When everyone saw this figure in Li Auto's annual report last year, the trending search term quickly rose. In an era where most industries are increasingly competitive, many people lament the wealth creation myth in the new energy vehicle sector, and this sense of disconnection has left many unable to let go.

Feelings of envy are unavoidable, but the situation is not as it seems. Li Auto responded that Li Xiang's basic annual salary last year was only 2.665 million yuan, with the vast majority being stock incentives that are yet to be exercised.

However, with the intensification of industry homogenization and the growing head effect, as last year's long-time sales champion among new forces, Li Auto has been pushed off its throne this year by XPeng and even Leapmotor, which is known as the "affordable Li Auto." The once exclusive range-extended + family segment has now become a red ocean. Li Xiang also judges that the domestic new energy vehicle industry chain is becoming increasingly complete, which means that the barriers between car companies are being dissolved.

At the same time, as market competition intensifies, the entry-level Li Auto L6 has become its sales pillar, but the decline in average transaction prices has also exerted some pressure on Li Auto's gross margin.

This has put Li Auto under pressure in the secondary market. Its stock price has gradually declined from last year's historical high of HKD 182.9 to around HKD 103.8 now. Its PE (price-to-earnings ratio) of only 26 times reflects investors' doubts about Li Auto's future growth. Li Xiang's "sky-high salary" is also inevitably subject to repeated scrutiny by the market.

To dispel investors' concerns, Li Auto needs a new story. This time, Li Xiang has returned with AI.

After more than 130 days, on May 8, Li Xiang appeared for the second time in the form of AI-Talk. Although he did not keep everyone in suspense like last time due to his "disappearance," the content was still rich. Throughout the session, he discussed AI trends and positioned Li Auto as an artificial intelligence technology company, stating that he wants to make AI accessible to every household in the future. He himself will transform from "Factory Director Li" in the automotive circle to CEO of an AI technology company.

In the previous AI-Talk, Li Xiang bluntly stated that "AI means everything to Li Auto, and half of the company's annual R&D investment of 10 billion yuan is spent on AI." Smart cars are at the forefront, which he sees as the carrier of the AI vision.

During this sharing, Li Auto showcased a video: when the driver wakes up "Li Xiang," giving instructions can allow the assisted driving to temporarily adjust the route. For instance, while I was sitting in a taxi leaving the airport and saw traffic congestion on the Capital Airport Expressway, I told the driver to take the Jingcheng Expressway instead.

In just over an hour, Li Xiang elaborated on the "VLA driver large model" and "from animal evolution to humans," which were further concretized.

In fact, at the beginning of the year, with the popularity of DeepSeek, many people were looking forward to AI liberating productivity, but Li Xiang did not exhibit blind confidence. He believes that the key to whether AI-Agent is truly intelligent lies in whether it can become a production tool; only then can we truly welcome the moment of explosion Li Auto's VLA aims to make AI a true driver, becoming a professional production tool in the transportation field. In other words, the "VLA driver model" mentioned by Li Xiang is the future of "machine driving."

However, this process is not an instantaneous "mutation," but rather a step-by-step "evolution." Li Xiang divided it into three stages:

The first stage, starting in 2021, is self-developed intelligent driving based on rule algorithms and high-precision maps, similar to "insect animal intelligence"; the second stage, starting in 2023, is the end-to-end + VLM intelligent driving, approaching "mammal intelligence."

However, the end-to-end model has limitations in handling complex problems and also struggles to communicate with humans. Therefore, starting in 2024, Li Auto will begin research on VLA, entering the third stage—VLA, initiating "human intelligence."

VLA can fully perceive the physical world through a combination of 3D and 2D vision, unlike VLM, which can only analyze 2D images. At the same time, VLA has a complete brain system, with language and reasoning capabilities, able to see, understand, and act.

These three stages are progressively layered, and there are no shortcuts in the entire process.

By choosing AI and persistently pursuing intelligent driving, Li Xiang aims to make Li Auto the DeepSeek of the automotive industry. Because many times, the outside world believes that Li Auto's success relies on shortcuts like "refrigerators, color TVs, and large sofas," but from car manufacturing to researching VLA, Li Auto has never lacked a down-to-earth approach.

Li Auto's goal is to be "the most knowledgeable about AI in the automotive industry and the best at making cars in AI," not only to achieve leadership in intelligent driving technology but also to build a full-stack self-developed ecosystem covering intelligent cockpits, energy management, and vehicle networking services. Behind this is actually Li Auto's gamble to open a second curve.

Li Xiang is determined to step out of the circle and tell a bigger story. Facing the future AI new blue ocean worth trillions, most automotive players are still struggling to respond, prompting Li Auto to decide to enter the "new dimension" ahead of time and seize the initiative.

The pure electric i series represents intelligence, which highly aligns with Li Auto's vision of becoming an AI technology company. According to the plan, Li Auto will release VLA simultaneously with the pure electric SUV Li Auto i8 in July this year and achieve mass production by 2026.

From range-extended to pure electric, from end-to-end + VLM to VLA, targeting the forefront of the industry for a switch, it appears that Li Auto's strategic route and implementation path are becoming increasingly clear.

At this moment, looking to the future, with the aspiration of a trillion-dollar market value, Li Auto is ready to take another shot.

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