Gasgoo Munich- Li Auto released its first-quarter 2026 financial results on May 28.Data shows Li Auto delivered 95,142 vehicles in the first quarter, up 2.5% year-on-year, beating its performance guidance. This secured the top spot among Chinese brands in the new energy vehicle market priced above 200,000 yuan.Image source: Earnings report screenshotRevenue for the quarter came in at 23 billion yuan, with cash reserves of 94.3 billion yuan at the end of March — a level maintained for ten consecutive quarters. Facing pressures from rising raw material costs and year-end delivery shifts, Li Auto voluntarily absorbed over 500 million yuan in purchase tax differences for i6 users. The company also moved swiftly on a $1 billion share repurchase program, buying back $139.7 million by May 26.While optimizing its financial structure, Li Auto maintained high R&D investment: first-quarter spending reached 2.7 billion yuan, an 8.3% annual increase. The full-year budget is set at 12 billion yuan, with roughly 50% allocated to AI-related projects. Meanwhile, sales and administrative expenses fell 19% year-on-year, reflecting a strategy that prioritizes innovation while tightening costs.On the product front, pure electric models drove the quarter's growth. Monthly sales of the Li Auto i6 stabilized above 20,000 units, and the 100,000th vehicle rolled off the line in April — a record pace for a pure electric SUV in the 200,000 to 300,000 yuan bracket. Net Promoter Scores (NPS) for the Li Auto i8 continue to climb. Regarding infrastructure, the company had built over 4,077 supercharging stations by the end of April, aiming to exceed 8,300 5C supercharging piles by the end of 2026.On May 15, Li Auto officially launched its flagship embodied intelligent SUV — the all-new L9 — entering the market segment above 500,000 yuan. The Livis version features proprietary technologies such as the Mach M100 chip, the Mach VLA large model, and Star Ring OS. Sales in the first two weeks exceeded expectations, signaling that Li Auto's growth engine is pivoting toward full-stack, self-developed embodied intelligence.Looking ahead to the second quarter, Li Auto expects to return to a strong growth trajectory as the new L9 ramps up and the refreshed L8 launches in June. The company stated it will continue to advance its "range-extended + pure electric" dual-drive strategy and accelerate its layout for the "second half" of embodied intelligence, including general-purpose humanoid robots, aiming to become a global leader in the field.
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