According to Wanwan Auto’s report today, multiple people familiar with the matter said that Li Auto plans to start going overseas next year. The first markets it will enter are Middle East countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and may also include some North African countries. The first batch of overseas models will be the Li L9. Depending on the acceptance of overseas consumers, the Li L8 and the Li L7 may also be added.
According to reports, people familiar with the matter said that before Li’s autumn strategic meeting this year, capital parties from the Middle East and Europe had approached Li Auto. After evaluation, Li Auto believes that compared to Europe, the political and consumer environment in the Middle East market is more suitable as the first stop for going overseas.
In terms of environment, Middle Eastern countries generally welcome Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers to invest and start businesses there, and the European Union has previously announced the launch of a countervailing investigation into pure electric vehicles produced in China. At the same time, most countries in the Middle East encourage “more children, more children, more happiness”, which is a positive factor for Li Auto, which focuses on the concept of large space and family cars.
According to data from the International Monetary Organization (IMF), the per capita GDP of the UAE will reach US$50,600 in 2022 (Note: currently about 361,000 RMB), and the per capita GDP of Saudi Arabia will reach US$32,600 (currently about 233,000 RMB). According to the report, Li’s models have “higher selling prices” that match the economic development level of Middle Eastern countries.
According to previous reports, Li Xiang, CEO of Li Auto, issued a document in July this year stating that Li Auto will not enter overseas markets before 2025 and will concentrate all resources on achieving the 2025 goal. It now appears that this goal is expected to be advanced by one year.
36 Krypton revealed earlier this month that Li Auto’s sales are forecast to exceed 800,000 vehicles in 2024. Based on this year’s expected sales of 380,000 vehicles, Li Auto’s sales growth next year will exceed 100%.
