Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI; HKEX: 2015) announced on April 10, 2026 that the 100,000th unit of its i6 pure electric SUV rolled off the line at the company's Changzhou Smart Manufacturing Base — a milestone reached fewer than seven months after the model entered the market.100,000th Li Auto i6 rolling off the line (Li Auto)The i6 launched on September 26, 2025 at a nationwide unified retail price of 249,800 CNY (c. $36,600). Customer response was immediate: within five minutes of the launch event, pre-orders surpassed 10,000 units. Li Auto says the model has set an industry record as the fastest pure battery electric SUV in the 200,000–300,000 CNY segment to reach 100,000 production units, doing so in just under six and a half months from first delivery.The milestone marks a critical inflection point for Li Auto. The company built its commercial success on extended-range electric vehicles — the L6, L7, L8, and L9 — which dominate the premium family SUV space in China. The i6 is its first high-volume pure battery model, designed to determine whether the brand's customer loyalty and software ecosystem can translate to a segment where fast charging infrastructure and range confidence remain central purchase considerations. The i6 competes directly against the Xiaomi (HKG: 1810) YU7 and the Huawei-backed Luxeed R7, two models that have intensified rivalry at the upper end of China's mainstream pure electric SUV market. Li Auto has positioned the i6 as the volume anchor of its new pure-electric "i-series" strategy, alongside the larger i8, which carries a starting price of 339,800 CNY (c. $49,700).On the technical side, the i6 runs an 87.3 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery with 5C ultra-fast charging. Li Auto says 10 minutes of charging delivers 500 km (311 miles) of additional range. The rear-drive version carries a CLTC-rated range of 720 km (447 miles). Peak system output exceeds 500 kW, and the platform supports vehicle-to-load (V2L) bidirectional power.The body measures 4,950 mm long, 1,935 mm wide, and 1,655 mm tall, on a 3,000 mm wheelbase — a proportion that prioritises rear-seat space within a relatively compact exterior footprint.The cabin features a 16.8-inch head-up display paired with a 3K dual-screen front setup and a 21.4-inch 3K rear entertainment screen. Li Auto's VLA (Vehicle Language Agent) driver model handles intelligent driving assistance, while the MindGPT large language model powers the in-car assistant. A panoramic glass roof and full acoustic optimisation are standard across all variants. Commercially, the i6 has become Li Auto's most consequential volume driver since the L6. In March 2026, the model recorded 24,198 deliveries, placing it among China's top five best-selling passenger vehicles that month across all powertrain types — trailing only the Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model Y, which led with 39,827 units, and two sedans. Li Auto's total March deliveries reached 41,053 units, with the i6 accounting for over 24,000. Together with the i8, the two pure electric models have re-anchored Li Auto's sales trajectory after a difficult transition period in early 2025.Whether the i6 can sustain this delivery pace as Xiaomi scales YU7 production and Huawei's expanding automotive stable brings more capable rivals to market will determine how durable Li Auto's pure-electric pivot proves to be.Conversion rate: 1 USD = 6.83 CNY as of April 10, 2026