Shanghai (ZXZC)- Chinese new energy vehicle startup Li Auto announced its first-quarter (Q1) 2023 financial results on May 10, revealing record-high quarterly revenue and delivery volume.

In Q1 2023, Li Auto’s total revenues reached RMB18.79 billion (US$2.74 billion), surging 96.5% year on year, while also rising 6.4% quarter on quarter.

The Q1 2023 revenues from vehicle sales were RMB18.33 billion (US$2.67 billion), shooting up 96.9% over the previous year and growing 6.1% over the previous quarter. The company said the year-on-year hike was mainly due to the increase in its vehicle deliveries, which came in at 52,584 units (+65.8% YoY) in Q1 this year, as well as the higher average selling price contributed by the Li L series. It also added that the quarter-on-quarter growth in Q1 vehicle sales was mainly attributed to the increase in vehicle deliveries, partially offset by the lower average selling price due to different product mix between two quarters.

Li L7; photo credit: Li Auto

Li Auto saw its gross profit for the Jan.-Mar. period in 2023 zoom up 77% over a year earlier to RMB3.83 billion (US$557.7 million).

During the same period, its gross margin stood at 20.4%, versus 22.6% in Q1 2022 and 20.2% in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2022.

Vehicle margin reached 19.8% in Q1 2023, dropping 2.6 percentage points from the year-ago period mainly due to different product mix between the two quarters.

Li Auto announced R&D expenses of RMB1.85 billion (US$269.7 million) for Q1 2023, representing a 34.8% jump over the prior-year period, but posting a 10.5% drop from Q4 2022. The year-on-year growth was primarily driven by increased expenses to support our expanding product portfolios as well as increased employee compensation as a result of our growing number of staff, while the quarter-on-quarter decline was mainly in line with timing and progress of new vehicle programs.

Based on positive market feedback, Li Auto expects its delivery volume to be between 76,000 and 81,000 vehicles (+164.9% to 182.4% YoY) in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023. Its revenues are anticipated to be between RMB24.22 billion (US$3.53 billion) and RMB25.86 billion (US$3.77 billion) in the Apr.-Jun. period, representing a spike of 177.4% to 196.1% from the same span of last year.