A screenshot circulating on Chinese social media Friday showed a sales representative from Li Auto warning a potential buyer to cancel their Nio vehicle order, citing the EV maker’s recent securities-fraud lawsuit filed in the US.
In the WeChat conversation, shared widely on Weibo, a salesperson tells a customer that “Nio is about to have a big problem,” claiming the company had “fabricated its financials.”
Additionally, and referring to Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, the salesperson warns the potential customer that “shareholders are suing,” and that the “brand is in danger.”
Li Auto‘s salesperson suggests the potential Nio customer give up the 5,000-yuan deposit — requested to lock in the order — and “stay away from this mess.”
The exchange appeared one day after Nio’s Hong Kong-listed shares plunged more than 9% on Thursday, following reports that GIC Private Ltd. had filed a US securities-fraud lawsuit against Nio, its founder and CEO William Li, and former CFO Steven Feng.
The fund alleges that Nio artificially inflated revenue through a related company, Wuhan Weineng Battery Asset Co., which manages the company’s batteries.
The case echoes claims from a 2022 short-seller report by Grizzly Research, which accused Nio of using Weineng to prematurely book hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
Nio responded to the lawsuit on Thursday afternoon, saying the matter “is not a newly occurring incident, nor is it directed at Nio’s recent operational performance.”
The company said the claims stem from “false allegations” made in the 2022 Grizzly report, and that an independent investigation completed that year with the help of international law and accounting firms found “no factual basis” for the accusations.
Nio’s US-listed shares closed 0.15% higher on Thursday after the company issued its statement defending its financial reporting and governance practices.
On Friday, after the chat screenshot went viral, Nio’s Head of User Operations, Yang Bo, posted on Weibo condemning the behavior:
“There are always some people who jump out to tarnish their own brand. I’ll blur you out for your protection — the road for China’s new-energy vehicles is still long, don’t be so hasty.”
This is only the latest episode in a series of clashes between Nio and Li Auto.
With the latest model launches, the Shanghai-based EV maker increasingly becomes a direct rival to Li Auto with the rollout of large premium SUVs — a key segment for Li Auto, whose lineup spans both battery-electric and extended-range hybrid vehicles.
In early August, Fei Shen, a long-time Nio executive and head of its sub-brand Onvo, publicly rejected claims from a Li Auto salesperson that “many” customers had canceled pre-orders for Onvo’s newly launched L90 SUV in favor of a rival model.
Shen insisted that L90 orders remained strong, pushing back on the remarks.
The exchange came as Li Auto quickly revised pricing and configurations of its i8 SUV — a direct competitor to the L90 — just a week after its launch.
Shen also dismissed speculation that Nio was paying for online commenters, saying the company “had no budget for that.”
Last month, a Weibo user named “仁者无敌boy” warned Yang Bo that “many Li Auto sales staff have been rushing to arrange test drives and then flooding online comment sections with smear campaigns and hostile remarks.”
“We have also been monitoring this. Thank you for the reminder,” Yang Bo replied at the time.
Earlier this year, Li Auto cut its full-year delivery target to 640,000 vehicles from 700,000, citing “weaker-than-expected” demand for its revamped Li L6 — the company’s best-selling model.
As of September 30, the Beijing-based automaker had delivered 297,000 vehicles, achieving 46.4% of its annual goal.
In July, Li Auto introduced its second fully electric model, the six-seat Li i8 SUV, entering one of China’s most competitive segments. The vehicle faces direct competition from several recent launches, including Nio’s Onvo L90 and Tesla’s Model Y L.
