Li Auto said the data it shares are obtained in a legal, compliant manner from sources common to the auto industry.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) shares weekly sales charts on Tuesdays for itself and its major peers for the previous week to show that it's ahead of the pack.

However, the latest list showed Xpeng's low sales last week, prompting questions from some of the company's executives. Now, Li Auto has responded.

The data shared by Li Auto was obtained in a legal and compliant manner from sources common to the automotive industry, local media outlet Caijing said in a report today, citing a source from the company.

"Based on our contractual agreement with the data provider, we cannot disclose the source. However, we have previously explained to the relevant authorities about the source of the data," the source said.

Li Auto continued to top the sales list of China's new car-making brands with 7,900 units sold in the week from July 3 to July 9, according to data it shared on Tuesday.

Li Auto didn't explain on what basis that weekly sales were tallied, but apparently they were insurance registrations. The company had suspended sharing these numbers in May, but has since resumed sharing them.

Xpeng sold 1,200 units last week, down 55.56 percent from the previous week's 2,700 units, and was No. 8 on Li Auto's list.

Notably, this comes as Xpeng just officially launched its new SUV G6 in China on June 29, with deliveries starting on July 10.

The list could lead some to believe that the G6's launch failed to turn around Xpeng's weak sales, sparking discontent among some of the company's executives.

Xpeng's general manager of product marketing, Huang Honglin, shared two charts, one of which was shared by Li Auto, in his WeChat status on Tuesday, saying that these were not reliable and that people should focus on official information.

Huang left a message in that WeChat status saying that all of the information about Xpeng is false and that the company has no need to show off its muscles.

The automotive industry is one that needs to rely on long-termism, and Xpeng wants to get down to the business of product, quality and supply, and deliver high-quality products to users, Huang said.

Rocky Liu, senior director of Xpeng's self-driving products, said on Weibo that the company doesn't need to hype itself by announcing sales every week, and that people can focus on the official data every month.

Li Auto had been sharing weekly volume data for the past several months, but stopped doing so in mid-May, saying it was due to complaints from many of the company's peers.

On May 23, Li Auto resumed sharing the data.

China NEV insurance registrations for week ending Jul 9: Li Auto 7,900, Tesla 3,200, Nio 3,100