This story is part of Forbes’ policy of China’s richest people ranking in 2023. See the full list here.
Li Xiang, founder of Li Auto, has carved out a niche for himself in China’s fiercely competitive EV market with a lineup of hybrid SUVs for families. Strong demand for these cars led to their percentage value on the Nasdaq more than doubling last year. Li ranks 34th with a net worth of $7. 4 billion.
Li Auto’s extended-range electric vehicles, which come with a gasoline engine that charges the battery as it travels, can travel 175 kilometers on a single fare and up to 1,100 kilometers on gasoline-generated electric power. For family trips, the lineup includes the Li L9, a flagship six-seater SUV (which comes with a small cooler), the six-seater Li L8 and the five-seater Li L7, all priced between $43,000 and $63,000. “The design caters to the personal tastes of Chinese consumers,” says Yale Zhang, managing director of Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight. “This company positions its products very precisely in the market. “
In September, Li Auto was among China’s most sensible distributors of new electric vehicles, according to the China Passenger Vehicle Association, with more than 36,000 deliveries that month, three times more than a year ago. In the second quarter, sales tripled to $3. 9. billion, and the company fell into the black with a net source of revenue of $319 million, compared with a loss of $95. 7 million a year earlier. State-run media outlet China Securities Journal reported that Li Auto aims to deliver 1. 6 million cars a year until 2025. .
Making cars wasn’t the discreet tycoon’s first advertising venture. After high school, Li started his own online computer and device review page called pcpop. com. Sensing an opportunity in the automotive market, Li founded the automotive news and platform Autohome in 2005, which was indexed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2013. Two years later, he left Autohome and introduced Li Auto, where the founder of food delivery giant Meituan, Wang Xing, who is ranked 23rd with $9. 9 billion, is an investor.
Now, Li Auto is facing a big test. Aware of what could be an eventual shift to natural electric vehicles, as technological advancements and the structure of charging functions ease anxiety about diversity, Li is ditching the gasoline engine of the company’s next model. Priced at over US$70,000, the Li Mega MPV is expected to target the luxury segment and be introduced later this year. Li Auto also plans to build 3,000 charging stations across the country over the next two years, 100 of which would be operational by the end of September.
The market for natural electric vehicles is incredibly crowded and has “a lot of room to enter,” said Wang Hanyang, an analyst at Shanghai-based research corporation 86Research. “But for Li Auto, the faster it develops natural electric models, the faster it completes its transition. “.