Li Auto has pushed the launch of its refreshed i6 electric SUV back by about a month to late October. The Beijing-headquartered carmaker is keeping the start of deliveries in early November, so buyers will wait weeks rather than months between ordering and collecting their vehicles.
Li Xinyang, Head of Product Line at Li Auto, announced the change on Weibo on Wednesday. He gave no exact date and no prices.
The 2026 i6 had been due to open for pre-orders at the end of September, under a plan Li Auto announced on September 7.
“After widely gathering users’ feedback, we want to avoid users waiting too long for delivery after placing an order,” Li wrote. “So we have moved the launch of the 2026 i6 to the end of October. The start of deliveries remains early November, unchanged.”
The original schedule would have left buyers waiting roughly five weeks between opening orders and the first handovers. The new one cuts that to a matter of days.
Battery and Chip Move In-House
The refresh keeps the i6’s size and styling but changes the two most expensive parts underneath.
The car, filed with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology earlier this month, uses Li Auto’s own 5C fast-charging lithium iron phosphate battery in place of the CATL pack in the current model.
The filings name CALB and Sunwoda as cell makers. The packs are assembled by Li Auto’s own battery units in Shandong and Zhejiang.
It is part of a wider plan to put Li Auto’s own batteries in every model.
The i6 also gets Li Auto’s in-house Mach assisted-driving chip. The company has rated the Mach M100, launched in June, at 1,280 TOPS on a 5-nanometre process.
The body measures 4,950 mm long, 1,935 mm wide and 1,655 mm tall on a 3,000 mm wheelbase. Power is unchanged at 250 kW for the single-motor version, and 150 kW front plus 250 kW rear for the dual-motor all-wheel-drive car.
Visible changes are limited to semi-concealed door handles and optional side and rear LiDAR. The filing also lists a 200 km/h top speed, up from 180 km/h, and an optional retractable tow hitch rated at 1,500 kg.
The current i6 costs 249,800 yuan ($37,300) with rear-wheel drive and 269,800 yuan ($40,300) with all-wheel drive. Li Auto has not said whether the refresh will change those prices.
Li Auto’s Volume Model
The i6 has become Li Auto’s largest-selling model since it launched in September 2025.
Retail sales reached 16,979 units in August, up 10.1% from July, according to the China Passenger Car Association. That took the January–August total to 152,842.
Li Auto said in July that the 160,000th i6 had come off the production line.
The company delivered 37,679 vehicles across all models in August, after July output was hit by a headlight shortage that cut i6 production by about 4,000 units.
A later launch leaves the current i6 to carry the model through October, in a quarter where the company is under pressure.
Li Auto guided third-quarter deliveries to 95,000–100,000 vehicles. July’s 30,468 and August’s 37,679 add up to 68,147, so September needs between 26,853 and 31,853 to land in the range.
Its second-quarter revenue fell 15%, with vehicle margin halving to 9.4%.
Europe Comes First
The new launch date falls after the i6’s European debut.
Li Auto will show the car at the Paris Motor Show, which runs from October 12 to 18, under the name Li 6. Founder and CEO Li Xiang said on the second-quarter earnings call that European sales would begin in the fourth quarter.
The company has not said whether the car shown in Paris will carry the refreshed battery and chip, or when the updated specification will reach European buyers.
