Fei Shen, a long-time executive at Chinese EV maker Nio and head of its sub-brand Onvo, pushed back on claims from a Li Auto salesperson suggesting that “many” customers were canceling pre-orders for the newly launched L90 SUV in favor of a rival model.
As tensions escalate between the two Chinese brands vying for dominance in the family SUV segment, Fei Shen wrote on Weibo that orders for the recently launched L90 SUV “remain strong as always.”
Shen Fei said on Tuesday that orders for the L90 remain strong, directly pushing back on remarks from a Li Auto salesperson who told a prospective buyer that “many L90 customers have canceled and ended up choosing our L8 instead.”
The Li Auto employee’s message, sent on WeChat and reposted by Fei Shen on social media, appeared alongside a configuration sheet for the Li L8 and was presented as part of a sales pitch.
Shen reposted the screenshot and responded that the L90 is a “revolutionary product” in the three-row SUV segment, citing features such as a front trunk, deep rear storage, third-row comfort, and nationwide access to over 8,000 charging and battery swap stations.
“I hope our partners work harder to clearly communicate the product’s value to users and encourage more direct experience,” Shen wrote, without naming Li Auto directly.
The public exchange came as Li Auto abruptly revised the pricing and configuration of its i8 SUV, just a week after the model’s launch.
Li Auto said Tuesday it would discontinue the Pro and Ultra variants of the i8, leaving only the Max trim, now priced at 339,800 yuan ($47,310) — a cut of 10,000 yuan, or 2.9%, from the previous price.
Customers who still want the features of the former Ultra variant can now replicate the same configuration through paid options for a total cost of 349,800 yuan — 20,000 yuan below the previous Ultra price.
Nationwide deliveries of the i8 are planned to begin on August 20.
Below is the translation of Fei Shen’s comment shared on Tuesday.
(1) Orders for the L90 remain strong as always.
(2) The Onvo L90 is a revolutionary large three-row SUV for families — with features like a front trunk, comfortable third-row seating, a massive sunken storage space in the rear trunk, battery swapping, and access to over 8,000 charging and swapping stations across the country. All of these create tremendous value for users and represent a significant competitive edge that others don’t have.
I hope our partners will work harder and focus on clearly conveying the value of the product to users, and encouraging them to experience it for themselves.
With love, we go far. There is great potential ahead.”
The discussion followed last week’s social media discussion on Weibo in which Fei Shen commented on a Li Auto advertisement video and defended that the brand has no budget “to hire paid commenters.”
Earlier this Tuesday, Nio founder and chief executive William Li said the L90 ranked among the top three best-selling large-size SUVs in China last week, within only the first three days on the market.
The statement, posted on Weibo, came as new vehicle registration data showed the Onvo L90 recorded retail sales of 1,980 units in the July 28–August 3 period, only behind the Aito M8 and M9 models, which sold 5,307 and 2,304 units, respectively.
