China's Li Auto Posts Another Loss on Subdued Demand

By Jiahui Huang

Li Auto reported a second consecutive quarter of losses as the Chinese automaker continued to face subdued sales and margin challenges while trying to spur demand with a spate of model launches.

Once viewed as the most successful of China's top emerging electric-vehicle brands, the Beijing-based company has seen its fortunes decline in recent quarters.

Demand for its extended-range EVs has softened as some buyers held off purchases ahead of model upgrades, while its push into the battery EV market hasn't had the same traction. At the same time, competition in China, the world's largest auto market, remains fierce, forcing price discounts that have chipped away at margins.

For the three months ended June, net loss was 1.70 billion yuan, equivalent to $253 million, compared with net profit of 1.09 billion yuan a year earlier, the automaker said Wednesday. Analysts had expected a 1.52 billion yuan loss, according to a Visible Alpha consensus estimate.

Revenue fell 15% to 25.67 billion yuan, slightly above the 25.17 billion yuan market expectation. The Nasdaq-listed company delivered 98,330 vehicles in the second quarter, an 11% drop from a year ago.

Profitability remained under pressure. The company's vehicle margin was 9.4%, while its gross margin stood at 11.0%, compared with 6.1% and 7.9%, respectively, in the first quarter.

For the third quarter, Li Auto expects vehicle deliveries to rise 1.9% to 7.3% to between 95,000 and 100,000 units. It guided for revenue of between 26.6 billion yuan and 28.0 billion yuan.

Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 26, 2026 05:13 ET (09:13 GMT)