• Li Auto has pledged to cover potential vehicle purchase tax benefit losses for customers who order the Li i6 before October 31.
• Nio previously committed to covering potential tax incentive losses for customers purchasing the ES8 before December 31.

Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) has pledged to cover tax incentives for customers ordering its new Li i6 model over the next month, becoming the latest electric vehicle (EV) maker to do so after Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO).

For customers who lock in Li i6 orders by October 31, any potential loss of national purchase tax subsidies due to Li Auto's reasons for failing to complete deliveries within this year will be covered by the company, it announced today on Weibo.

Li Auto will provide this subsidy through a cash rebate on the final payment to ensure customers incur no additional vehicle purchase tax expenses, it said.

"Thank you for the enthusiastic interest and support for the Li i6. Orders have far exceeded our expectations," Li Auto wrote on Weibo.

Li Auto launched the Li i6 on September 26, its second pure-electric SUV following the Li i8.

The Li i6 is offered in a single trim starting at RMB 249,800 ($35,070). Li Auto is offering customers who purchase the Li i6 by October 31 limited-time benefits worth RMB 35,000, including a RMB 10,000 cash discount.

On September 27, local media outlet 21jingji reported that Li Auto's production capacity for the Li i6 this year is projected between 45,000 and 50,000 units.

With only three months remaining until year-end, Chinese consumers ordering new energy vehicles (NEVs) now may face additional vehicle purchase tax they could have been exempt from due to delivery delays.

From 2024 to 2025, China continues to exempt NEVs from purchase tax, with the tax exemption per vehicle not exceeding RMB 30,000.

From 2026 to 2027, China's NEV purchase tax will be levied at half the standard rate of 10 percent -- effectively a 5 percent tax -- with a maximum tax reduction of RMB 15,000 per vehicle.

Li Auto's domestic peer Nio launched its third-generation ES8 SUV on September 20 and quickly sold out its production capacity of 40,000 units for this year.

On September 21, Nio announced that customers who lock in orders for the new ES8 by December 31 will receive a purchase tax subsidy voucher.

If an ES8 order placed this year is delivered in 2026 due to reasons attributable to Nio, users can apply this voucher to offset up to RMB 15,000.

($1 = RMB 7.1225)