On December 6, Li Xiang, founder, chairman and CEO of Li Auto, posted on Weibo: "I can say with certainty that Li Auto has the lowest [marketing and communication expense ratio] among all car brands in China, including all marketing and communication expenses of the main engine factory and sales (direct sales) system. The only one in the world who is lower than us should be Tesla. ”
The reason why Li Xiang made this remark was that an automobile blogger analyzed the dynamic changes in the proportion of sales expenses and gross profit margin of Li Auto, Xiaopeng Motors, Weilai Automobile and Tesla, and then Li Xiang analyzed this analysis to his Weibo and published the above remarks. Li Xiang pointed out in the article: "The marketing and communication expenses that everyone is most concerned about are included in the overall sales and management expenses. In response to the above remarks, Ma Lin, assistant vice president of brand and communication of NIO, also issued different opinions. Ma Lin said that according to the "Sky (Star) Eye (Picture)" system, the content of Douyin for the three cars should be about 90 million this year, and the biggest cost is not Weibo. At the same time, Ma Lin proposed: "Shouldn't everyone be most concerned about the cost and efficiency of R&D?"". On November 9, Li Auto announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2023. According to the financial report, Li Auto's revenue in the third quarter was 346800 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2712%；Operating profit and net profit were 23400 million yuan and 28100 million yuan, achieving four consecutive quarters of profitability;Gross margin was 220%。With the continuous expansion of sales volume, Li Auto's selling, general and administrative expenses in the third quarter were 25400 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 688%, accounting for 73%。
According to Li Xiang**'s chart information, in the comparison chart of the proportion of sales expenses of new energy vehicle companies, Li Auto is slightly higher than Tesla (5.).4%), but much lower than NIO in the "Wei Xiaoli" camp (189%) and Xpeng Motors (198%）。It is worth mentioning that in May this year, in response to the hot topic of "marketing expenses of car companies" on the Internet, there was a view that "among the new energy vehicle companies, Li Auto spends the most money on marketing." Subsequently, Li Xiang posted a number of clarifications on his personal social account. Li Xiang said: "The market expense ratio of our brand is 06%, including all the brand's public relations, activities, advertising, auto shows, press conferences, owner operations, etc. I have to approve tens of thousands of yuan of expenses to avoid spending money indiscriminately. Li Xiang also said: "The market expense ratio of mainstream brands is 2-3%, which is 4-5 times that of us. The full-caliber sales expense ratio including brand + channel is also a quarter of that of luxury brands. The part that is more than the traditional brand is the R&D expense ratio, which is 3 times. Li Xiang emphasized: "Listed companies, data is like a fake. ”
As for the question of "how to measure the marketing expenses of automobile brands", Li Xiang also gave his own views at that time. Li Xiang said: "As a passerby, how to measure the level of marketing expenses of an automobile brand?He said: "The easiest way is to read the message." In particular, brands that buy a large number of real people's messages, use a large number of real accounts that have nothing to do with cars, and desperately leave messages under various contents to praise a certain product in a certain period of time, including derogatory treatment of a competing product, such a brand marketing department is the richest!The message has never been lost, and the sales have never ......At present, the three quarterly reports of "Wei Xiaoli" have been announced. In the "Wei Xiaoli" camp, Li Auto has achieved profitability for four consecutive quarters, and the net profit in the first three quarters of this year has made up for the accumulated losses of the previous three years. In this regard, Li Xiang said that with the continuous expansion of business scale, Li Auto will maintain healthy profitability and continue to invest in research and development to support the company's long-term development. NIO and XPeng are still not profitable. As a comparison, the data shows that in the third quarter of this year, the net profit of Li Auto was 28100 million yuan;NIO had a net loss of 455.7 billion yuan;Xpeng Motors reported a net loss of 38900 million yuan. In fact, now the three car companies in the "Wei Xiaoli" camp have gradually opened up a significant distance, especially the two car companies of Li Auto and Xiaopeng Weilai. According to the data, from January to October this year, Li Auto delivered a total of 325677 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 19075%, taking the lead in achieving the annual sales target of 300,000 units. NIO was 142026, up 33 percent year-on-year14%；Xpeng Motors was 121486, a year-on-year increase of 1098%。