LI AUTO-W and NIO-SW are going head-to-head!
LI AUTO-W CEO Li Xiang and NIO-SW PR Director Ma Lin are engaging in a social media feud over the issue of Li Auto's spending on content placement on Douyin. Li Xiang stated that Li Auto has the lowest marketing and communication expense ratio among all Chinese automotive brands, while Ma Lin pointed out that LI AUTO-W has spent approximately 90 million RMB on Douyin placements this year, and believes that more attention should be paid to research and development expenses and cost-effectiveness.
NIO-SW's Ma Lin responded to Li Xiang's blog post: "LI AUTO-W spent 90 million yuan on content promotion on Douyin this year, but we should pay more attention to R&D expenses." It is reported that automotive blogger "Da D with Attitude" released a set of data charts last night regarding the "Sales Expenses Ratio and Gross Profit Margin Dynamics of LI AUTO-W, XPENG-W, NIO-SW, and Tesla." The data shows that in terms of the sales expenses ratio of new energy vehicle companies, XPENG-W and NIO-SW ranked first and second respectively (Figure 1). LI AUTO-W CEO Li Xiang then reposted the blog and explained, "The expenses that everyone is most concerned about, including marketing and communication, are included in the overall sales and management expenses. I can say with certainty that Li Auto has the lowest marketing and communication expense ratio among all Chinese automotive brands." Today at noon, Ma Lin, the PR director of NIO-SW, reposted Li Xiang's blog and bluntly said, "LI AUTO-W's content promotion on Douyin for its three models this year should be around 90 million yuan, and the biggest expense is not on Weibo." And he retorted, "Shouldn't we be more concerned about R&D expenses and cost-effectiveness?"