By Jiahui Huang
Li Auto shares rose sharply after the Chinese plug-in hybrid specialist released a new autonomous-driving model.
The company's shares rose 7.6% as of midday Tuesday to 113.10 Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to US$14.56, outperforming the Hang Seng Index's 1.8% gain.
The gains came after Li Auto unveiled its new vision-language-action autonomous-driving system dubbed Mind VLA, which will help facilitate advanced driver-assistance features such as identifying store signs and parking, the automaker said in a statement Tuesday.
The Mind VLA model will transform the car from purely a means of transportation into a sensitive driver that has hearing, seeing and finding functions, said Peng Jia, Li Auto's vice president of autonomous-driving algorithms.
Competition among Chinese electric-vehicle makers in the field of autonomous driving has been heating up, following market leader BYD's February launch of its "God's Eye" driving-assistance system to its mass-market cars.
Last week, XPeng introduced cheaper versions of the G6 and G9 sport utility vehicle models, both equipped with its latest fast-charging functions and autonomous-driving features.
Li Auto's share-price rebound follows a selloff on Monday, with the stock falling 7.2% after the carmaker offered softer first-quarter guidance and reported a profit slump for the final quarter of 2024.
Li Auto said it expects to deliver between 88,000 and 93,000 vehicles in the first quarter. It projected revenue of 23.4 billion yuan to 24.7 billion yuan, equivalent to US$3.24 billion to US$3.41 billion, down 3.5%-8.7% from a year earlier.
Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 18, 2025 01:01 ET (05:01 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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