Li Xiang is attempting to steer Li Auto away from homogenized competition centered on technical specifications.

Li Auto's CEO, Li Xiang, made a rare move by posting five consecutive messages on his personal social media platform. He publicly accused a certain Japanese automaker of heavily employing marketing accounts to disparage Li Auto's products. He alleged the use of "black PR" to fabricate false information and flood product comment sections, stating these actions have severely disrupted the company's normal operations.

Li Xiang did not directly name the brand involved. However, based on accompanying images, the references point towards Dongfeng Nissan's newly launched NX8. This vehicle is positioned as a mid-to-large SUV, offering both extended-range electric and pure electric powertrains. It primarily targets family users in the 150,000 to 200,000 yuan price range, creating some overlap with the target demographics of Li Auto's i6 and L6 models.

Subsequently, Wang Qian, General Manager of the New Energy Brand at Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company, responded on social media. He stated that the company had noted the online discussions and received numerous media inquiries. Dongfeng Nissan emphasized it always adheres to industry standards, promotes healthy competition, and respects all peers working hard for China's automotive industry, including Li Auto.

However, Li Auto's legal department directly published screenshots of social media comments and statistical data. They claimed that following the NX8's launch last week, there was a concentrated surge of posts on online platforms making inappropriate comparisons and maliciously disparaging the Li i6 and Li L6 against the NX8. Much of this content followed a "choice between two cars" template, was highly homogenous, and showed abnormal concentration in posting IP addresses and times, indicating organized activity.

Li Auto's legal department stated it would pursue legal action against the masterminds, organizers, and perpetrators through reporting to public security authorities, filing complaints with regulatory bodies, and initiating lawsuits.

Li Xiang further declared that tolerating "black PR" and "water armies" in recent years has led to severe consequences. "Starting today, we will not tolerate it anymore," he said, announcing the company would investigate the facts, submit materials to government authorities, and begin legal proceedings. He specifically named a Japanese automaker, accusing it of undermining the hard-won fair competition and public opinion environment for Chinese automakers and the auto market.

Li Auto has faced multiple "black PR" attacks in the past. When its first pure-electric model, the MEGA, launched, images of its design were maliciously altered and widely disseminated. Last year, Li Auto owners also encountered a large volume of targeted negative reviews, with the frequency and content of these posts showing signs of organized activity.

Searches on social platforms reveal numerous comparison posts pitting the Dongfeng Nissan NX8 against the Li i6 and Li L6. Much of this content uses comparison as a pretext to steer users towards purchasing the NX8, with comments sections featuring repetitive replies like "ended up choosing the NX8." Following Li Xiang's public statements, some posts have been deleted or had content related to the Li i6 and Li L6 modified.

According to reports, internal training materials provided by Dongfeng Nissan to its dealers explicitly contained phrases like "benchmark upwards against Li Auto, replace fuel with extended-range," and included marketing language such as "understand family needs better than Li Auto." In an internal "NX8 Communication Group" for Dongfeng Nissan's marketing department, there were directives to output comparisons between the NX8 and the Li i6 and AITO M7 for direct information dissemination.

A marketing professional from an automotive company commented that competitor comparisons by dealers are very normal. After a new car launch, manufacturers typically provide dealerships with prepared talking points, key selling features, and comparison materials to help sales staff quickly address customer inquiries. Especially in markets with overlapping price segments and high user crossover, benchmarking against popular leading models is standard practice.

"However, normal comparison and organized 'black PR' attacks are two different things," the source noted. The former is based on public information for product comparison, focusing on highlighting one's own advantages to win customers. The latter involves using bulk accounts, uniform scripts, and false content to manipulate public opinion, even attacking competitors' comment sections, which essentially crosses the line from normal marketing into unfair competition.

Starting last year, Dongfeng Nissan, which has seen sustained sales decline in China, accelerated its self-rescue efforts. Its Chinese team gradually gained more product definition authority from the Japanese headquarters and pushed the company towards new energy transformation. Former Deputy General Manager of Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company, Zhou Feng, stated that Dongfeng Nissan's new brand positioning uses "home" as the starting point for technological innovation.

The first new energy product launched after Dongfeng Nissan's brand refresh, the N7, focused on comfort and revived the long-standing "sofa factory" product tagline. However, in the current context of China's new energy market, such expressions centered on comfort, family, and scenario experience inevitably intersect with the user perception established by Li Auto.

During the NX8's pre-sale and launch events, as the brand's first extended-range model, the official benchmarking against Li Auto became more overt. The发布会 repeatedly mentioned Li Auto, using statements like "While Li Auto once crossed the river by feeling the stones with e-Power, today (Dongfeng Nissan) pays homage to Li Auto, creating a more ideal family SUV in the 200,000 yuan class."

In subsequent media interviews, Dongfeng Nissan executives frequently discussed their product alongside Li Auto. On one hand, they leveraged the user perception Li Auto has built in the extended-range market to provide a clearer reference point for the NX8. On the other hand, they attempted to reposition Nissan's earlier technical积累 as current competitive筹码 to enhance their standing in the extended-range segment.

Dongfeng Nissan's Chief Product Officer, Shang Shunshi, even stated that Dongfeng Nissan is the most qualified to benchmark against Li Auto, suggesting it was not "forcing a connection" but rather a "match of equals."

A product manager from a new automaker explained that benchmark-based development is common in the auto industry. Anchoring onto a popular, market-validated product and then making trade-offs around its core selling points is the fastest way to connect with users. It also helps avoid potential "pitfalls" in R&D and the challenge of innovative definitions conflicting with mainstream demand preferences.

Dongfeng Nissan is not the first brand to adopt this strategy. Earlier, Leapmotor had already taken the path of benchmarking Li Auto. The Leapmotor C16 and C10 are positioned as affordable alternatives to the Li L8 and Li L7, respectively. From product form, marketing tone, to product strategy, these models closely align with the Li L series, also targeting family users but at about half the price.

This strategy has yielded positive sales results. Leveraging the "affordable alternative to Li Auto" momentum, Leapmotor became the sales champion among new automakers last year and achieved its first annual profit. Dongfeng Nissan announced that the NX8 garnered 8,423 orders within 30 minutes of its launch.

Li Auto has become the target for many automakers. The configuration logic of "refrigerator, TV, large sofa," once seen as a differentiating tag, has been rapidly replicated by competitors within two years. As supply chains mature and economies of scale improve, later entrants can often enter the market with more cost-effective pricing strategies, further compressing Li Auto's original product advantages.

Brands like XPeng Motors, IM Motors, and Zeekr have successively launched extended-range models. Products like the IM LS9 and Zeekr 9X are directly benchmarked against the Li L9 in terms of positioning. These products also offer pure-electric ranges exceeding 400 km, higher than the current Li L9's range. The same market also features pure-electric products like the NIO ES8, creating a pincer movement against Li Auto.

In 2025, Li Auto's annual sales declined by 18.8% year-on-year to 405,900 vehicles. In the first quarter of this year, Li Auto delivered 95,100 new vehicles, with the Li L6 and i6 accounting for nearly 80%, forming its core sales foundation. Li Xiang's anger towards Dongfeng Nissan stems, in part, from this competition touching the company's most critical sales territory.

Li Xiang is attempting to steer Li Auto away from homogenized competition centered on technical specifications. During last year's Q3 earnings call, he stated that once a product is simplistically defined as an "electric vehicle," competition easily devolves into parameter comparisons, where companies can only offer more space, longer range, lower prices, and replication of successful designs.

Li Auto hopes to leverage artificial intelligence to extend competition from the electric vehicle product level to the field of embodied intelligence, aiming to re-establish a differentiated advantage. Since the start of the year, Li Xiang has repeatedly elaborated on the company's embodied intelligence strategy on social media, while simultaneously adjusting the organizational structure to resemble an AI company. He also stated that the flagship Li L9 model, launching this quarter, will be the company's first embodied intelligence vehicle.

An industry consultant previously noted that when automakers start discussing AI, their primary goal is to quickly capture user mindshare and seize the initiative in the new technological narrative. Secondly, they seek new breakthroughs in the capital markets, painting new growth possibilities for the no-longer-novel smart EV story.

In response to market competition, Li Auto recently adjusted its existing extended-range product line. The Li L8 shifted from a large six-seater SUV to a flagship large five-seater SUV, while the Li L7 changed from a large five-seater to a premium large six-seater SUV. After this swap, Li Auto can offer both five-seat and six-seat versions across different price bands, creating a more complete product portfolio.

Li Auto, under siege, faces a prolonged defensive battle, which is more challenging than its past market penetration relying on first-mover advantage. It must prove not only its ability to defend its current market base but also whether it can regain a significant lead amidst relentless competition from followers.