China EVs: Li Auto rewards hard-working employees with fat bonuses for surpassing 2023 sales target

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The carmaker plans to give its 20,000 employees annual bonuses of up to eight months’ pay for exceeding the 300,000-unit sales target, according to a media report

Co-founder and CEO Li Xiang has set a goal of delivering 800,000 units this year, an increase of 167 per cent compared with last year’s target

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Li Auto exceeded its 2023 sales target on the back of surging sales of models like the L7 SUV. Photo: Reuters

Daniel Renin Shanghai

Published: 7:31pm, 7 Feb 2024

Li Auto, mainland China’s nearest rival to Tesla, is giving huge bonuses to its employees after the electric-car maker’s deliveries in 2023 exceeded the target in a highly competitive market.

The Beijing-based carmaker plans to grant annual bonuses ranging from four months to eight months pay to nearly 20,000 employees, compared with an industry average of two months’ salary, Shanghai-based financial media outlet Jiemian reported.

While Li Auto did not reply to a request for comment from the Post, co-founder and CEO Li Xiang said on the microblogging site Weibo that the company would reward the hard-working employees with a bonus much higher than last year.

“We gave small bonuses [last year] because the company failed to reach the sales target for 2022,” he said. “A big bonus will be distributed this year because the sales goal in 2023 was surpassed.”

A Tesla Cybertruck is display in a mall in Shanghai last month. Photo: EPA-EFE

Li Auto will continue to stick to its performance-based salary system to encourage workers to enhance their performance, he added.