Among the first owners of the Li L8, those who previously owned a BMW 3 Series were the highest, followed by those who owned a BMW 5 Series and an Audi A6.

(Image credit: Li Auto)

Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) is taking market share away from the German luxury car company, a survey by the company shows.

Among the first owners of the Li L8, those who previously owned a BMW 3 Series were the highest, followed by those who owned a BMW 5 Series, according to a survey of 303 first owners of the Li L8 released yesterday by Li Auto.

Among these Li L8 owners, the number of owners of the Audi A6 came in third, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class in fourth, the Audi A4 in fifth and the Audi Q5 in sixth.

Li Auto launched the Li L8, a six-seat mid to large-size SUV, on September 30, 2022, when it was offered in two versions, Pro as well as Max, with starting prices of RMB 359,800 ($52,300) and 399,800 respectively.

On February 8, Li Auto introduced a lower-priced Air version of the Li L8 with a starting price of RMB 339,800 when it launched the five-seat SUV Li L7.

Li Auto delivered 16,620 vehicles in February, up 9.77 percent from 15,141 in January and up 97.53 percent from 8,414 in the same month last year, data it released on March 1 showed.

The company did not release a breakdown of deliveries for these models, though data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) monitored by CnEVPost show that 8,192 units of the Li L8 were delivered in February, bringing the model's cumulative deliveries to 29,773 units since deliveries began last November.

As for the owners' reasons for replacing their old cars for the Li L8, most believe the model is suitable for family use. Targeting family consumers has always been the positioning of Li Auto.

Some said their original cars had problems including constant minor issues and high gas consumption, and some said the Li Auto offered simple car-buying options.

($1 = RMB 6.8801)

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