A salesperson claiming to be a third-party contract worker for Li Auto in the Guangdong region posted that their monthly performance pay was wiped out by the city general manager in October. After multiple failed attempts at communication and reporting the issue to HR, their work phone was deactivated, their WeChat Work contacts were migrated, and their devices were remotely locked.
Before the National Day holiday, Li Auto held its autumn strategy meeting. Wang Xing, founder of Meituan and a director of Li Auto, suggested that involution in the automotive industry might last for three to five years, and advised making cost reduction and efficiency improvement the core strategy to prepare for a long-term response.
After 36Kr reported on Li Auto's autumn strategic meeting and Wang Xing's suggestions on cost reduction and efficiency improvement on October 28, the article was deleted.
On October 13, netizens found that the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, which issued the inspection report for the brake pedal of the Huawei Stelato V800, was also the organization that carried out the earlier controversial Li Auto i8 test in which it "sent a Chenglong truck flying," for which the organization had publicly apologized.
On September 22, Li Auto released an advertisement in collaboration with actor Xie Mian. Due to its striking similarities in creativity, composition, and camera movement with Volvo's 2013 ad starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, it triggered netizens' accusations of plagiarism.
Li Auto L8 first-batch owners displayed a banner at the Li Auto delivery center in the Zhengzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone to defend their rights.
On September 12, a blogger was live-streaming a test of Li Auto's latest smart driving system when the vehicle, despite a large vehicle passing quickly, accelerated out of a side road onto the main road at 37 km/h. The blogger narrowly avoided a collision by slamming on the brakes. The blogger later revealed that this dangerous situation had occurred multiple times, and the live stream was subsequently banned.
The Cyberspace Administration of China has announced a batch of enforcement actions against malicious hype of company-related information, involving accounts that published false information about Li Auto, hyped negative information about companies, and maliciously attacked corporate executives.
On August 3, 2025, China Automotive Research Institute stated that the test outline was drafted by Li Auto and was a simulated test for a specific scenario; on August 6, Li Auto, China Automotive Research Institute, and Dongfeng Liuzhou Motor issued a joint statement, in which China Automotive Research Institute apologized for not explaining the purpose of the Chenglong truck promptly and clearly.
On August 1, a truck blogger posted a video questioning whether Li Auto's promotional video was faked, saying a truck's frame can bear over a hundred tons of cargo, and that a family sedan ramming a big truck is a huge joke, warning consumers not to be misled.
At the Li Auto i8 launch event on July 30, Li Auto released a video claiming that when the Li Auto i8 collided with an eight-ton truck, the truck's four wheels flew up and the cab separated.
On July 29, 2025, Li Auto released a video of a head-on collision test between its i8 and a Chenglong truck. In the footage, all four wheels of the truck leave the ground and the cab tips over, raising questions about the safety of Chenglong trucks.