Li Auto‘s Vice President Liu Jie has addressed on Friday what he described as an emerging smear campaign against its upcoming model, the Li i8 SUV.
In a Weibo post, the executive shared a screenshot of an online comment falsely claiming to have test-driven the i8, asking, “is this the next major smear direction by the online trolls targeting the Li Auto i8?”
The user had commented that he “test-drove the Li Auto i8 and the Onvo L90,” saying that “the i8 felt like sitting in a boat — it shook noticeably and lacked the stability of the L90.”
The same user claimed that the model was inferior to the L90, the second model by Nio Group’s mass-market sub-brand Onvo, when it came to smart driving, space and seating.
Li Auto‘s VP clarified that “user test drives for the i8 have not even started yet” and “there are no small-scale user trials either.”
Liu confirmed the company’s previously revealed timeline — according to the brand, the launch event is scheduled for July 29, when the i8 test drives will also officially begin.
Pre-orders for the model opened on July 17.
Onvo’s brand chief Shen Fei responded to Liu’s post, telling Li Auto to reach out to authorities. “Suggest reporting it to the police directly,” he stated.
Both Onvo and Li Auto are launching fully electric six-seater SUVs by the end of July. Competition in the segment is increasing, as Tesla unveiled its three-rowed Model YL last week.
Earlier this week, the Nio Group denied allegations that its sub-brand Onvo engaged in orchestrated online attacks against rival carmakers, calling the claims defamatory and vowing legal action.
The Shanghai-based company said that several Chinese social media accounts circulated screenshots aiming to show Onvo employees coordinating smear campaigns and making cryptocurrency payments to online trolls.
The company issued a public statement over the weekend, saying the claims were “completely untrue and constitute malicious slander and defamation against Onvo and our staff.”
In June, the company’s founder and CEO William Li said the EV maker was spending between 30 million and 50 million yuan ($4.2 million to $7 million) per month to counter organized online disinformation.
Earlier this year, Nio announced that several individuals have been detained and punished, following an investigation by the Anhui Provincial Public Security Department, for spreading false information about the company.
BYD and XPeng have also launched dedicated teams to counter online attacks and take formal legal action on them.
In June, the Shenzhen-based company said it was suing 37 influencer accounts and had placed an additional 126 under internal surveillance, claiming it has been the target of defamation.
Earlier this month, XPeng‘s VP of Marketing Thomas Yu warned that the automaker had set up a special task force to to crack down on what he described as long-term, profit-driven smear campaigns.
On Thursday, the company said that it has won a defamation case against a company spreading misinformation about its brand.
The brand got a court ruling against website Auto Consumer Network (‘汽车消费网’), which “published unfair and disparaging remarks” about its Mona M03 model and must now “issue a public written apology” and “pay financial compensation” for economic losses.
Weibo user ‘贾佳HondaYes’, who “repeatedly posted false information” about the company on the platform, XPeng wrote, had their account removed by authorities “in accordance with the law.”
