Li Auto: the group, its brands and who controls it
Facts checked
- Private
- NASDAQ LI
- HKEX 2015
Li Auto Inc. was founded in 2015 by Li Xiang, who had earlier built the Chinese car website Autohome. The company was first called Beijing Chehejia Information Technology and later Leading Ideal Inc.; its principal executive offices are at 11 Wenliang Street in Shunyi district, Beijing, and it builds cars at Changzhou in Jiangsu province and at a Beijing plant in Shunyi that was previously part of Beijing Hyundai.
Its commercial idea was different from NIO's and Xpeng's. Rather than pure battery-electric cars, Li Auto built large family SUVs as extended-range electric vehicles: the wheels are always driven by electric motors, but a small petrol engine runs as a generator once the battery is low, so the car needs no charging network to complete a long trip. That made it the first of the Chinese electric-vehicle startups to reach sustained profitability. Battery-electric models were added later, and the company now sells both.
Meituan and its chief executive Wang Xing are the shareholders outside the founder who matter most. Wang Xing personally led a US$530 million Series C in August 2019 with US$300 million of his own money, and Meituan led a US$500 million Series D in June 2020. At the July 2020 IPO filing Li Xiang held 25.1% of the shares and 70.3% of the voting power, Meituan's vehicle Inspired Elite held 14.5% with 5.8% of the votes, and Wang Xing personally held 8.9% with 3.5% of the votes.
Li Auto delivered 406,343 vehicles in 2025 on revenue of RMB 112.3 billion (US$16.1 billion) and net income of RMB 1.1 billion (US$162.9 million). Cumulative deliveries passed 1.5 million on 31 December 2025. It began exporting in 2026, starting with extended-range SUVs in Central Asia and the Gulf.
Key facts
| Chinese name | 理想汽车 “LEE-shyahng CHEE-chuh” 理想 lǐxiǎng means 'ideal' or 'aspiration'; 汽车 qìchē is 'motor car'. Read aloud it is also a play on founder Li Xiang's own name, 李想. |
|---|---|
| Legal name | Li Auto Inc. |
| Ownership | Private |
| Founded | 2015 by Li Xiang |
| Headquarters | Beijing, Beijing, China |
| Vehicles | Cars |
| Listings | NASDAQ LI and HKEX 2015 |
| 2025 deliveries | 406,343 vehicles; 109,194 of them in the fourth quarter |
| 2025 revenue | RMB 112.3 billion (US$16.1 billion) |
| 2025 result | Net income of RMB 1.1 billion (US$162.9 million); fourth-quarter gross margin 17.8% |
| Cumulative deliveries | 1,540,215 vehicles as of 31 December 2025 |
| Retail network | 548 retail stores in 159 cities and 561 servicing centres and authorised body-and-paint shops as of 31 December 2025 |
| Charging network | 3,907 supercharging stations with 21,651 charging stalls in operation as of 31 December 2025 |
| Shareholdings at the 2020 IPO filing | Li Xiang 25.1% of shares and 70.3% of votes; Meituan's Inspired Elite 14.5% and 5.8%; Wang Xing personally 8.9% and 3.5% |
| Employees | 32,248 as of 2024; a 2025 headcount was not confirmed for this record |
Ownership tree
Who controls Li Auto?
Li Xiang holds a stake in Li Auto since 2015.
Li Xiang founded the company in 2015 and is its chairman and chief executive. At the July 2020 IPO filing he held 25.1% of the shares and 70.3% of the voting power through Li Auto's dual-class structure. No current percentage is asserted here; the company has issued shares since listing on Nasdaq in 2020 and in Hong Kong afterwards.
| Holder | What it is | Share | Since | What the source says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meituan | holds a stake in | not published | June 2020 | Meituan led a US$500 million investment in Li Auto's US$550 million Series D round in June 2020. Through its vehicle Inspired Elite it held 14.5% of the shares and 5.8% of the voting power at the July 2020 IPO filing, making it the largest shareholder after the founder. No current percentage is asserted here. |
| Wang Xing | holds a stake in | not published | August 2019 | Wang Xing, Meituan's co-founder and chief executive, personally led Li Auto's US$530 million Series C in August 2019 with US$300 million of his own money. At the July 2020 IPO filing he personally held 8.9% of the shares and 3.5% of the voting power, separate from Meituan's 14.5%. Hong Kong Stock Exchange filings showed a disclosed long position of 384 million shares, or 21.79%, after he sold about 1.95 million shares for around HK$311 million between 12 and 15 September 2023; that Hong Kong figure aggregates interests differently from the US prospectus figure and the two are not directly comparable. |
Brands
| Brand | Held | Origin | Founded | Models | Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 理想Li Auto | directly | China | 2015 | 4 | 4 |
Li Auto: questions people ask
- Who owns Li Auto?
- It is a listed company controlled by its founder through a dual-class share structure. At the July 2020 IPO filing Li Xiang held 25.1% of the shares but 70.3% of the voting power. Meituan and its chief executive Wang Xing are the largest outside shareholders; Wang Xing led the 2019 Series C personally and Meituan led the 2020 Series D.
- What does Li Auto's Chinese name mean?
- 理想 (Lǐxiǎng) means 'ideal' or 'aspiration'. It is also a near-homophone of the founder's name, 李想 Lǐ Xiǎng, so the brand name and the man's name sound almost the same.
- Are Li Auto's cars electric?
- Both kinds. The models the company is known for are extended-range electric vehicles: electric motors always drive the wheels, and a small petrol engine acts only as a generator when the battery runs low. Li Auto has since added battery-only models with no engine at all.
- Where is Li Auto based?
- In Beijing. Its principal executive offices are at 11 Wenliang Street in Shunyi district, and it manufactures at Changzhou in Jiangsu province and at a plant in Shunyi.
- Is Li Auto sold in the United States?
- No. Its shares trade on Nasdaq, but it has never offered a car to buyers in the United States. Its first export markets were in Central Asia and the Middle East in 2026.
Related
Sources for Li Auto
- Li Auto Inc. / U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Li Auto Inc. Announces Unaudited Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results (Form 6-K, Exhibit 99.1, filed 12 March 2026). Read .
- Li Auto Inc. / U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Li Auto Inc. December 2025 Delivery Update (Form 6-K, Exhibit 99.1, filed 2 January 2026). Read .
- CnEVPost, Factbox: Meituan is Li Auto's second largest shareholder with 14.5% stake. Read . Reports the shareholding and voting-power figures from Li Auto's July 2020 IPO filing.
- Wikipedia, Li Auto. Read . Finding aid, cited for the former company names, the Changzhou and Beijing plants and the 2024 employee count.
- Li Auto Inc. / U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Li Auto Inc. Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2025. Read . Source for the Shunyi, Beijing principal executive offices and the share classes outstanding at 31 December 2025.
- CnEVPost, Li Auto maps overseas push with i6 for Europe, L9 for Dubai. Read .