Li Auto is ready to make a comeback at home

Author | Chai Xuchen

Editor | Zhang Xiaoling

After experiencing a painful correction last year, Li Auto is ready to unleash "bullets" this year and launch a counterattack.

According to insiders, the new L9 will undergo significant updates. In the current hot trend of AI and intelligent driving, Li Auto is preparing to debut its self-developed intelligent driving chip M100 on the new L9, marking a key step in building a technological moat. In terms of the intelligent cockpit, the new L9 will also adopt a large dual-screen design in the front row, and the cockpit chip will switch to Qualcomm 8797.

In addition, the new L9 will align with the development trend of large battery extended-range models, equipped with a 70 kWh battery and a pure electric range exceeding 400 kilometers. It will also upgrade to an 800V high-voltage platform and 5C fast charging technology to compensate for the current model's 400V platform's lack of competitiveness in the market.

At the same time, the exterior and interior design of the vehicle will be refreshed, and the body size is expected to further increase, continuing to strengthen Li Auto's consistent strength in "large space."

Clearly, Li Auto has allocated a significant amount of resources to the new L9 this year. This is not just a routine annual facelift but an evolution from the inside out, preparing to eliminate all potential weaknesses that could be attacked by competitors.

In response, Li Auto did not comment to Wall Street News but did not deny it. The new L9 sounding the charge again signifies Li Auto's determination to reclaim lost ground.

Looking back, Li Auto is currently facing the most critical moment since its establishment. If 2024 is its glorious peak, then the recently passed 2025 was undoubtedly a "Waterloo" that left the internal team feeling pained.

Faced with disappointing sales and obstacles in its pure electric strategy, this new force in the automotive industry, once known for precisely defining its products, is undergoing a profound self-reflection and strategic restructuring.

Over the past year, Li Auto has gone through a difficult exploratory period. The company ambitiously shifted its focus towards pure electric vehicles, hoping to replicate its success in the extended-range field through a series of pure electric products like MEGAHOME, Li Auto i8, and Li Auto i6.

However, the market feedback has been harsh. With a total delivery of 406,300 units for the year, it not only fell far short of its adjusted target of 640,000 units, achieving only about 63%, but also experienced a year-on-year decline of 18.81%, even less than the impressive performance of 500,500 units in 2024. The pure electric products did not form the expected scale support, putting overall deliveries under pressure.

This awkward situation of being "stuck in the middle" forced Li Auto's management to make a more realistic and decisive choice in 2026: to pause the aggressive expansion of its pure electric layout and refocus its strategic emphasis on its most advantageous business—the extended-range market.

The core tactic of this battle is no longer blindly expanding into unfamiliar territories but rather turning the ship around and returning to its most familiar and dominant home ground—the high-end extended-range track, attempting to stabilize the situation by reshaping the dominance of its flagship products and reclaiming lost glory Therefore, the new generation of Li Auto L9 is undoubtedly assigned the important role of "pioneer general." From the information above, it is clear that Li Auto has allocated an unprecedented amount of "bullets" to this brand new flagship model this year, and the internal team is full of confidence in this "armed to the teeth" flagship, with a sales forecast of over 100,000 units for the new L9 model alone, demonstrating its determination to reclaim lost ground.

In addition to creating blockbuster products, Li Auto's overall product strategy for 2026 has also undergone significant adjustments, with the core logic shifting from "expansion" back to "premium."

In a previous earnings call, Ma Donghui explicitly revealed that the L series will undergo a major facelift in 2026, guided by the principle of "returning to a simplified SKU model." The past complex model versions will no longer exist, replaced by a clearer product line.

More importantly, Li Auto has decided to standardize core configurations across the entire lineup, such as the 5C supercharging technology, which will no longer be exclusive to high-end models. This strategic shift aims to reduce consumers' decision-making costs on one hand, and on the other hand, to lower production costs through economies of scale, thereby maintaining sufficient gross margin space in the fierce price war.

Li Auto attempts to make each product more competitive through this "subtraction" approach, ensuring that every bullet hits the target.

While focusing on the extended-range main battlefield, Li Auto's attitude towards pure electric business has become cautious and restrained. The consecutive defeats in the pure electric field over the past year have made Li Auto deeply realize that blindly charging forward without sufficient infrastructure and brand recognition support will only lead to losses. Therefore, the pure electric strategy for 2026 is filled with connotations of "contraction" and "defense."

It is understood that Li Auto is likely to launch only one product in 2026, while the flagship model Li Auto MEGA will only undergo regular annual upgrades. This strategy does not completely abandon pure electric but aims to preserve the spark while avoiding excessive resource consumption. In this uncertain field, Li Auto has chosen to "lie low," waiting for the next explosive window of technology and market.

To support this series of strategic adjustments, Li Auto's internal organizational structure has also undergone profound changes. The consecutive setbacks have prompted the management to rethink the alignment of personnel and organization.

Currently, Li Auto's product line has been re-divided into two major camps: the first product line is overseen by Tang Jing, managing high-end flagship models such as MEGA, L9, L8, and L7; the second product line is led by Li Xinyang, focusing on volume models like the i series and L6.

This division clearly reflects Li Auto's current strategic intent: to separate the management of high-end and volume models, with the former responsible for establishing brand height and profit moat, while the latter is tasked with expanding the market base.

Although these organizational adjustments may take some time to translate into concrete market competitiveness, they indicate that Li Auto is attempting to address the past issue of vague product definitions caused by a "one-size-fits-all" approach from a structural perspective.

It can be said that 2026 is a defensive battle for Li Auto regarding "survival and dignity." Whether this turnaround can ultimately succeed depends not only on the product strength of the new products but also on whether Li Auto can implement this strategic will of "returning to certainty" at the execution level