Ideal’s Setback, Li Xiang’s Choice
Li Auto’s Q3 2025 Financial Report — A Turning Point?
Two days ago (November 26), Li Auto released its Q3 2025 financial report.
Key Financial Figures
- Total revenue: RMB 27.4 billion (↓36.2% YoY)
- Net profit/loss: Net loss RMB 624 million vs. Net profit RMB 2.8 billion in Q3 last year
In short: The numbers were disappointing — a dramatic shift from earning 2.8 billion to losing 600 million.
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The Earnings Call — “What Next?”
At 8 PM, Li Auto held its Q3 earnings call.
Marking the 10-year milestone, founder Li Xiang:
- Shared his reflections
- Addressed live questions
- Announced a major governance change:
> Li Auto will shift from a “professional manager model” back to a “startup company management model.”
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Governance Models — What’s the Difference?
Many asked:
- What is the professional manager model?
- What is the startup company model?
- Will this shift help Li Auto recover?
My view:
> Changing governance alone won’t fix Li Auto. But if Li Auto must change strategically, governance change can pave the way for those shifts.
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The “Founder Model” vs. Professional Manager Model
- Startup company management model (aka founder model) is popular in Silicon Valley: fast, market-responsive (Tesla, Nvidia as examples).
- My perspective: The founder model isn’t inherently distinct — eventually, growing companies hire senior executives (professional managers).
Key difference:
> Only founders can ignore the board’s short-term demands, sacrificing one to two years’ results for a 3–5 year vision.
Professional managers:
- Bound by quarterly/annual targets
- Rarely risk short-term losses for long-term bets
Founders:
- Can make long-term plays for market dominance
- Can endure losses without shareholder revolt — because the company is their creation
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Risks & Realities
- Many companies fail from founder misjudgments
- Many professional managers save companies
- No absolute “better” model — differences are smaller in practice than assumed
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Why Governance Change Matters for Li Auto
> Business logic:
> 1000 = Era trends
> 100 = Strategic choices
> 10 = Governance model
> 1 = Management details
Governance change is a “10-level” lever — important, but secondary to strategic choices (“100-level”).
Li Auto’s current challenge is strategic, not structural.
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Li Xiang’s Strategic Pivot — Embodied Intelligence
In the call, Li Xiang announced:
- Focus for the next decade: Embodied intelligence (not EVs or smart terminals)
- AI system with self-developed M100 chip — delivery expected 2026
📄 Related reading: Why Did Li Auto Suddenly Stop Following Huawei?
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Challenges Ahead
- Massive capital investment required
- Short-term sales impact likely negative
- Financial performance may worsen before improving
> This requires determination and courage — traits only the founder can shoulder.
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Personal Reflection
I deeply admire Li Xiang.
Two years ago, I led a team to visit him — his deep insight into the auto industry impressed me.
Key contributions:
- Ushered in extended-range new energy vehicle era
- Introduced “sofa, fridge, big color TV” to cars — now industry standards
I sincerely hope Li Xiang leads Li Auto through this challenge and that the next decade fulfills today’s ideals.
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Broader Context — Platforms & Vision
Strategic pivots in automotive AI mirror changes in other industries. For creators, integrated AI ecosystems accelerate innovation.
Example: AiToEarn官网 —
An open-source global AI content monetization platform that enables:
- AI content generation
- Cross-platform publishing (Douyin, Bilibili, Facebook, YouTube, and more)
- Analytics and model rankings
Platforms like AiToEarn connect vision to execution, just as founder leadership transforms companies.
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If you’d like, I can also create a clean, bullet-point executive summary version of this so readers can grasp the governance and strategy shift in 60 seconds. Would you like me to do that?
