Hyperdrive
Li Auto Posts First Yearly Profit But Sees Challenges Ahead
- Fourth-quarter revenue of 41.7 billion yuan beat estimates
- Forecast deliveries for first quarter less than market expects
A Li Auto Inc. showroom in Shanghai.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Li Auto Inc. swung to a profit last year after deep discounting to fend off rising competition in the Chinese electric vehicle market spurred better-than-expected sales during the fourth quarter.
The automaker reported net income of 11.8 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) last year, making it the first of the three major Chinese EV upstarts — ahead of Xpeng Inc. and Nio Inc. — to post an annual profit after vehicle shipments more than doubled.