Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) stock gained on Friday after it officially launched the Li i6, a five-seat battery electric sport utility vehicle.
The Li i6 has a price tag of 249,800 Chinese yuan (~$35,020) for the standard model. The deliveries will begin on September 27, 2025.
The launch reflects Li Auto’s push to expand its lineup and compete in China’s pure battery electric segment, where rivals such as BYD (OTC: BYDDY) and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) dominate.
Also Read: NIO, XPeng, Li Auto Log Strong August Deliveries Highlighting China’s EV Momentum
Li Auto shares are up nearly 8% year-to-date but fell about 5% on August 28 after the EV maker posted weaker-than-expected second-quarter 2025 results and delivered a downbeat outlook.
Revenue fell 4.5% year-over-year to $4.2 billion, below the $4.4 billion consensus, while adjusted EPS of $0.19 missed expectations of $0.24.
Vehicle sales slipped 4.7% to $4.0 billion despite deliveries rising 2.3% to 111,074 units.
For the third quarter, Li Auto projected revenue of $3.5-$3.7 billion, down nearly 40% year-over-year and well below the $6.0 billion analyst consensus. It also forecast deliveries of 90,000-95,000 vehicles, a 38%-41% decline from last year.
Deutsche Bank analysts expect Tesla to deliver about 72,000 vehicles in China this September, up 27% from August, with strong momentum from the Model Y L.
They forecast BYD will deliver more than 380,000 units, a 2% monthly rise but a 9% year-over-year drop, following the company’s cut to its annual sales target.
Li Auto will deliver around 35,000 vehicles, marking 23% monthly growth but a 35% annual decline, while Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) will hit a record with over 40,000 deliveries, up 6% month-on-month.
Price Action: LI stock is trading higher by 2.25% to $26.39 premarket at last check Friday.
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