Header image source: Li Auto.
No sooner had Xiaomi opened preorders for its YU7 electric vehicle than its competitors began moving to stay in step. At Li Auto, that meant a major restructuring centered on sales. On June 27, the company announced internally that president Ma Donghui would take charge of R&D, supply, manufacturing, and sales operations, reporting directly to CEO Li Xiang.
As part of this reorganization, Li Auto’s sales department has been integrated into the R&D and supply group, consolidating production, supply, and sales under Ma’s direction. The move creates a more streamlined operational structure that spans from strategy to execution.
Earlier this year, Ma was tasked with leading Li Auto’s smart vehicle strategy, covering strategic planning and business-wide implementation. He also began chairing a joint committee responsible for coordination among the manufacturing, supply chain, and sales teams.
However, that earlier change focused on high-level decision-making and did not affect the organization’s structure. This time, Ma will be involved in the full production-to-sales pipeline of the vehicle business.
Zou Liangjun, senior vice president of sales and service, who previously reported directly to CEO Li, will remain with the company as an advisor for the sales and service division under the new structure.
A key change in Zou’s area involves the leadership of overseas expansion efforts, with responsibility shifting from Wang Jin to Wu Zuomin. Wu, currently senior director of procurement, previously oversaw Li Auto’s overseas and mobility operations after joining the company in 2016.
CEO Li will continue overseeing product lines, development, branding, and overall strategy, but plans to dedicate more attention to artificial intelligence. He has consistently emphasized that Li Auto’s long-term ambition is to become a leading AI company. Its current AI investments are focused on advanced driver assistance systems, particularly vision-language-action (VLA) models.
The personnel changes appear aimed at preparing the company for the release of two upcoming battery-powered EV models.
Xiaomi’s YU7 quickly hit its annual sales target, a development that may pose challenges not only for Tesla’s Model Y but also for Li Auto’s all-electric i6 and i8, both of which are positioned in the same market segment.
RELATED ARTICLE
Li Auto’s extended-range L series, which forms the core of its current business, is also facing increasing competition. Rivals such as Aito, Denza, Lynk & Co, and Deepal are bringing new models to market at a steady pace.
At the same time, internal projections are being revised. 36Kr has reported that Li Auto is lowering its second-quarter sales targets. The company delivered 92,800 vehicles in the first quarter and had originally targeted 123,000–128,000 deliveries in Q2 2025. That figure is now expected to decrease.
With its extended-range models facing headwinds and its EV offerings still early in development, Li Auto is reinforcing its core operations. It has restructured its sales unit by merging 26 regional teams into five larger zones to concentrate resources more effectively.
The company is also expanding its EV charging network. It now operates more than 2,500 supercharging stations and aims to increase that number to 4,000 by year’s end, equating to an average of four new stations per day.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Li Anqi for 36Kr.