Li Xiang, Chairman and CEO of Li Auto, has once again taken to social media to allege that a Japanese automaker is systematically employing marketing accounts to disparage Li Auto's products. He stated that the company will pursue legal action to protect its legitimate interests.
Li Xiang noted that since the government initiated measures in 2025 to curb excessive competition within the automotive industry, there has been significant improvement in reducing malicious practices such as smear campaigns and fake reviews. Chinese automakers have gradually fostered an environment of healthy competition. However, recently, a Japanese brand has been heavily recruiting marketing accounts to disparage Li Auto's products while deploying a large number of fake accounts to spread false information and overwhelm product review sections, severely disrupting Li Auto's normal operations. He described this as one of the most serious violations under the anti-internal competition regulations. Li Auto plans to use legal means to defend its rights and has called on relevant authorities to implement necessary oversight to prevent unregulated overseas brands from undermining the positive market environment achieved through these regulations.
In a previous post, Li Xiang remarked, "History has shown that puppet armies are often worse than the invaders themselves, and the same goes for automakers." This statement was widely interpreted as a pointed message to Dongfeng Nissan. Recent reports from automotive bloggers have exposed a coordinated online campaign using templated content with titles such as "I thought it would be an easy choice, but after test-driving the NX8 and i6, I was speechless…" Many of these posts praise Dongfeng Nissan's NX8 while criticizing Li Auto's i6.
Comments