KEY TAKEAWAYS
- U.S.-listed shares of Li Auto are rising 13% in premarket trading Tuesday after the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer posted photos of its first all-electric SUV model.
- The gains followed the release of two photos of the new Li i8 model in its social media platforms, according to CnEVPost, a website focused on Chinese EV news.
- Li Auto competes in China with homegrown firms Nio, BYD, and XPeng, as well as Elon Musk’s Tesla.
U.S.-listed shares of Li Auto (LI) are rising 13% in premarket trading Tuesday after the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer posted photos of its first all-electric SUV model.
The gains followed the release of two photos of the new Li i8 model in its Chinese social media platforms, according to CnEVPost, a website focused on Chinese EV news.
According to the CnEVPost, Li Auto CEO Li Xiang said on Chinese social media platform Weibo that the firm had planned to announce the Li i8 on Thursday but moved the release forward by two days because Xiaomi is slated to release its SU7 Ultra EV as well as a new Ultra smartphone on the latter date.
EV makers in China, the world’s largest market for battery-powered cars, are intensely competitive, with domestic players enjoying the benefits of lower production costs. According to Boston Consulting Group, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) made up 27% of the market share of automobiles sold in China last year, versus 13% in Europe and 8% in the U.S. Li Auto competes in China with homegrown firms Nio (NIO), BYD, and XPeng (XPEV), as well as Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA).
Li Auto didn’t respond to an Investopedia request for comment. Its shares are down by almost 25% in the past 12 months entering Tuesday’s session.