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China’s Li Auto delivers electric minivan with fridge and sofa to lure wealthy families from General Motors’ petrol MPV
- The US$77,764 Li Mega, Beijing-based Li Auto’s first pure-electric model, has a range of 710 kilometres
- Sales of minivans, also known as multipurpose vehicles, grew 15.9 per cent year on year in 2023 to 1.09 million, most of which were petrol-powered
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Daniel Renin Shanghai
Li Auto has priced its multipurpose vehicle (MPV) at 559,800 yuan (US$77,764), nearly double the price of market leader General Motors’ petrol-powered competitor, the GL8, as the nearest rival to Tesla in mainland China vies for a bigger share of the country’s premium electric vehicle (EV) market.
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Beijing-based Li Auto said on Friday that the fully-electric minivan, known as the Li Mega, will better cater to the travel demands of rich families because it is fitted with a refrigerator and a sofa, making it a “mobile home”.
“We believe Mega will be our next hit product,” Li Xiang, co-founder and CEO of Li Auto, said at a ceremony on Friday in Shanghai as the company started deliveries of the new van. “It will prove that a pure-electric MPV can be a good choice for families.”
The seven-seat MPV comes in only one edition, which can go as far as 710 kilometres on a single charge.
MPVs are generally viewed as commercial vehicles in China. The models that are configured for passenger use normally target wealthy households with more than one child.
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