China’s Li Auto postpones all-electric SUV launch (NASDAQ:LI)

Chinese automaker Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI) has postponed the launch of its all-electric SUVs till the first half of 2025, company CEO and founder Li Xiang said late on Monday, citing inadequate charging stations among other constraints.

Enough branded charging stations and incremental display spots are two critical and necessary conditions for selling the BEV SUV products, Xiang said in a post-earnings call.

The Beijing-based startup needs an additional 500 to 600 display spots across the country to supply consistent sales of over 10,000 units per model, Xiang noted.

“Otherwise, we’ll be only increasing the number of products rather than the number of sales volume.”

The investments required to build EV infrastructure, on which its peers such as Tesla (TSLA) and NIO (NIO) have extensively spent, could weigh on Li Auto’s profitability, Reuters reported citing analysts.

Earlier this year, Li Auto (LI) became the first domestic competitor to follow Tesla’s lead on price reductions, which would impact the company’s entire existing line-up, excluding the new Li L6 model.

The company missed first quarter estimates.