Hello ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by for Li Auto's fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Today's call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to your host, Kobe Wang, the head of capital markets of Li Auto. Please go ahead, Kobe.
Thank you, operator. Good evening and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Li Auto's fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings conference call. The company's financial and operating results were published in a press release earlier today and were posted on the company's IR website. On today's call, we will have our Chairman and CEO, Mr. Xiang Li, and our CFO, Mr. Johnny Tie Li, begin with opening remarks. Our President, Mr. Donghui Ma, and Senior VP, Mr. James Liangjun Zou, will join for the Q&A discussion. Before we continue, please be reminded that today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risk and uncertainties as such, the company's actual results may be materially different from the views expressed today.
Further information regarding risks and uncertainties is included in certain company filings with the U.S. SEC and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable law. Please also note that Li Auto's earnings press release and this conference call include discussion of unaudited GAAP financial information as well as unaudited non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to Li Auto's disclosure documents on our IR website which contain a reconciliation of the unaudited non-GAAP measures to comparable GAAP measures. Our CEO will start his remarks in Chinese. There will be English translation after he finishes all his remarks. With that, I will now turn the call over to our CEO, Mr. Xiang Li. Please go ahead.
Max 3.0为所有的用户带来了高速+城市全场景智能驾驶NOA，覆盖全国高速、城市环线和超过110个城市的城区道路。预计今年二季度我们会实现无图版城市NOA全国全部开放，进一步提升城市NOA的能力，使用范围不再受限任何的城市，并且会通过OTA升级到所有的AD Max车型上。截止目前，理想用户的智能驾驶NOA累计里程已经达到5.6亿公里。在2月8日至17日的十天春节假期中，超过22万理想用户享受到智能驾驶NOA带来的出行便利，NOA累计行驶里程超过5000万公里。智能空间方面，OTA 5.0将实时联网全车全场景可用的多模态大模型MindGPT引入理想同学，显著提升理想同学在理解、生成、知识记忆和推理方面的能力。自MindGPT上车以来，相较于标准指令性对话的方式，用户通过自然对话的方式发出指令，获得更多文本信息和文本服务的频次大幅提升。在春节的十天假期里，这类自然语言对话所有有效交流中的占比提升至7.2%，与OTA 5.0之前相比整个数字实现了翻倍。 在销量迅猛增长的2023年，我们也加快了直营零售网络的拓展，即在23年第四季度我们就以一天开超过一家店的速度新增了106家零售中心，建成了中国最大的汽车直营销售服务零售服务体系。截止2024年1月31日，理想汽车全国已经拥有474家零售中心，覆盖142个城市。2024年理想汽车的销售和服务网络将进一步升级，到年底零售中心目标增至800家，加大一二线城市布局的同时，加深对于三四线城市的覆盖。在充电网络方面，截止目前理想汽车已经开放超过340座超级充电站。在除夕至正月初八的春运期间，我们向理想用户、理想汽车用户免费开放了理想超充站，为理想车主提供了5.7万次免费充电服务。所有整体服务总单量超过12万单，充电总量达到281万度。在假期的超高负荷下，充电设备在线率维持在99.3%以上，为用户持续提供优质高效的补能体验。2024年我们会加快超级充电网络在全国高速和城市的布局速度，目标在今年年底之前累计建成超过2000个超级充电站。 生产方面，理想汽车北京绿色智能工厂已于2023年底建设完成并投产，为3月理想MEGA的交付上量和后续纯电车型的生产做好了充足准备。今年一季度，随着理想MEGA和2024款L7、L8、L9的大规模交付，我们预计理想汽车的交付量将达到10万至103,000辆，并在3月份突破5万辆的月交付。2024年我们将继续向优秀的企业学习，持续进化，超越期待，创造移动的家，创造幸福的家。下面有请我们的CFO Tie Li为大家详细介绍我们的财务表现。
Now translating for our CEO, Mr. Li Xiang. Welcome to today's earnings conference call. 2023 was a year of accelerated growth for Li Auto. We delivered a total of 376,000 vehicles for the entire year, exceeding our target set at the beginning of 2023, and also making us the first emerging new energy automaker in China to exceed the 300,000 annual deliveries mark. Our total deliveries for the fourth quarter reached 131,805 vehicles, an increase of 184.6% year over year. In December, we reached another significant milestone of 50,000 monthly deliveries, setting a new record for Chinese premium car brands.
According to China Automotive Technology and Research Center's insurance registration data, in China's NEV market of RMB 200,000 and higher, Li Auto's market share increased from 10.9% in Q1 2023 to 16.0% in Q4, making us a leading Chinese automotive brand by market share. The growth will continue in 2024. I would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to all of our family users, business partners, and our team for your unwavering trust, support, and tireless efforts. Moving on to our financial performance, our scale expansion, effective cost control, and increasing operating efficiency have continuously improved our financial performance. Q4 total revenues reached RMB 41.73 billion, and annual revenues surpassed the RMB 100 billion mark at RMB 123.85 billion. Additionally, we achieved full-year profitability for the first time in 2023, recording a healthy net income of RMB 11.81 billion.
By the end of 2023, our cash position reached RMB 103.67 billion. In 2024, the virtuous cycle of our business growth will solidify our long-term profitability, cash generating capabilities, and capital base. This trajectory will further deepen our R&D efforts across products, platforms, and systems, ensuring consistent delivery of exceptional products and services to our users in the long run. 2024 will be an unprecedented year of new product launches for Li Auto, beginning in March with the launch of our high-tech flagship and family MPV, Li MEGA. Developed on a pure BEV platform, Li MEGA integrates the latest technological advancements in 5C BEV technologies, smart space, and autonomous driving. We also plan to begin mass delivery of 2024 model year Li L7, L8, and L9 models starting in March.
You're all welcome to tune into our Li Auto 2024 Spring Product Launch Event this Friday, March 1st, where we'll be unveiling more exciting details about Li MEGA and our 2024 model year L series. Furthermore, we'll introduce several new models over the course of the year, including Li L6, to broaden our product lineup even further. By the end of 2024, we will have eight models on the market, featuring four EREVs and four BEVs, forming a highly competitive product matrix and satisfying the diverse needs of our family users. New vehicle launches are only the starting point. Since the initial delivery of our L series, we have released over 20 over-the-air updates, operating over 700 features. Notably, the official release of our OTA 5.0 upgrades in December last year further enhanced product competitiveness of our vehicles.
Moving to autonomous driving, with the latest release of AD Max 3.0, full scenario NOA now covers all highways and city ring roads nationwide, as well as urban roads across over 110 cities. We anticipate to offer City NOA independent of HD Map in all of China by the end of the second quarter this year, and it will be delivered to all AD Max vehicles via NOA. As of today, our users have accumulated around 560 million kilometers on NOA during the 10-day Chinese New Year holiday, from February 8th to 17th. Over 220,000 users enjoy the convenience of NOA, covering close to 50 million kilometers on NOA. In terms of smart space, OTA 5.0 integrated MindGPT into Li Xiang Tongxue. MindGPT is a full scenario multimodal large model with real-time connectivity. This development has significantly increased Li Xiang Tongxue's understanding, generating, memorizing, and reasoning capabilities.
Since its release, there's a notable increase in user engagement in giving instructions and seeking text-based information and services through natural conversations. During the 10-day Chinese New Year holiday, the percentage of such natural conversations in all effective communications reached 7.2%, twice the level before OTA 5.0. Amidst our remarkable sales growth in 2023, we accelerated the expansion of our direct sales network. In Q4 2023, we opened 106 new retail stores, or over one store per day, creating the largest automobile direct sales network in China. As of January 31st, 2024, we have 474 retail stores across 142 cities nationwide. In 2024, we aim to further expand our direct sales and servicing network, targeting 800 retail stores by year-end. While expanding our presence in first- and second-tier cities, we also plan to broaden our coverage in third- and fourth-tier cities. Turning it over to our supercharging network.
To date, we have over 340 supercharging networks in operation, starting from the Chinese New Year holiday. Throughout the entire holiday, we provided family users with free access to Li Auto's supercharging services. We delivered 57,000 free charging sessions to Li Auto's users and over 120,000 sessions to all EV users, delivering over 2.81 million kWh of electricity. Facing the exceptionally high demand during the holiday season, our superchargers maintain an online rate of over 99.3%, providing uninterrupted access to high-quality and efficient charging experience to all users. In 2024, we will continue to accelerate our supercharging network expansion across highways and cities nationwide, targeting 2,000 supercharging stations by year-end. On the production front, Li Auto's Beijing Green Intelligent Manufacturing Base went into production toward the end of 2023, ready for volume production of Li MEGA and subsequent BEV models.
With volume production delivery of Li MEGA and 2024 model year Li L7, L8, and L9, we expect our total vehicle deliveries for Q1 2024 to range between 100,000-103,000 units, with March delivery exceeding 50,000 units. In 2024, we'll continue to learn from the best enterprises, iterate ourselves, and surpass expectations as we create mobile homes and create happiness. With that, we will turn it over to our CFO, Johnny, for a closer look at our financial performance.
Thank you, Li Xiang. Hello, everyone. I will now walk you through some of our 2023 fourth quarter financials. Due to time constraints, I will address financial highlights here and encourage you to refer to our earnings press release for further details. Total revenues in the fourth quarter were RMB 41.73 billion, or $12.88 billion, up 136.4% year-over-year and 23% quarter-over-quarter. This included RMB 40.38 billion, or $5.69 billion, from vehicle sales, up 133.8% year-over-year and 20.1% quarter-over-quarter. The year-over-year increase was mainly attributable to the increase in vehicle deliveries, partially offset by the lower average selling price due to different product mix between the two quarters. The quarter-over-quarter increase was mainly attributable to the increase in vehicle deliveries.
Cost of sales in the fourth quarter was RMB 31.95 billion, or $4.5 billion, up 126.8% year-over-year and 18.2% quarter-over-quarter. Gross profit in the fourth quarter was RMB 9.79 billion, or $1.38 billion, up 174.4% year-over-year and 28% quarter-over-quarter. Vehicle margin in the fourth quarter was 22.7% compared with 20% in the same period last year and 21.2% in the prior quarter. Excluding the impact of inventory provision related to Li ONE in the fourth quarter of last year and the true-up adjustments of warranty reserve in the fourth quarter of 2023, based on updated estimates of costs of further claims, the vehicle margin remained relatively stable over the fourth quarter of 2022. The increase in vehicle margin over the third quarter of 2023 was mainly due to the aforementioned true-up adjustments of warranty reserve in the fourth quarter.
Gross margin in the fourth quarter was 23.5% compared with 20.2% in the same period of last year and 22% in the third quarter. Operating expenses in the fourth quarter were RMB 6.75 billion, or $950.8 million, up 82.4% year-over-year and 27.2% quarter-over-quarter. R&D expenses in the fourth quarter were RMB 3.49 billion, or $491.7 million, up 68.6% year-over-year and 23.9% quarter-over-quarter, primarily driven by increased expense to support our expanding product portfolios and technologies, as well as increased employee compensation as a result of our growing number of staff.
SG&A expenses in the fourth quarter were RMB 3.27 billion, or $460.5 million, up 100.6% year-over-year and 28.5% quarter-over-quarter, primarily driven by increased employee compensation as a result of our growing number of staff, as well as increased rental expenses associated with the expansion of our sales and servicing network. Income from operations in the fourth quarter was RMB 3.04 billion, or $427.7 million, compared with RMB 133.6 million loss from operations in the same period last year and up 29.8% quarter-over-quarter. Operating margin in the fourth quarter was 7.3%, compared with -0.8% in the same period last year and 6.7% in the third quarter, attributable to the increase of income from operation and the recognition of non-cash tax benefit for the release of valuation allowance on certain deferred tax assets.
Net income in the fourth quarter was CNY 5.75 billion, or $810.2 million, representing an increase of 268.2% year-over-year and increasing by 104.5% quarter-over-quarter. Diluted net earnings per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders was RMB 5.32, or $0.75, in the fourth quarter, compared with RMB 0.25 in the same period last year and RMB 2.67 in the prior quarter. Turning to our balance sheet and cash flow, our cash position remains strong and stood at RMB 103.67 billion, or $14.6 billion, as of December 31st, 2023. Net cash provided by operating activities in the fourth quarter was RMB 17.29 billion, or $2.44 billion, up 251.1% year-over-year and 19.2% quarter-over-quarter. Free cash flow was RMB 14.64 billion, or $2.06 billion, in the fourth quarter, up 349.4% year-over-year and 10.7% quarter-over-quarter.
As of December 31st, 2023, we had a total of 31,591 employees. For more information and details of our 2023 full-year financial results, please refer to our earnings press release. Now for our business outlook. For the first quarter of 2024, the company expects the deliveries to be between 100,000 and 103,000 vehicles, representing an increase of 90.2%-95.9% from the first quarter of 2023. The company also expects first quarter total revenues to be between RMB 31.25 billion and RMB 32.19 billion, or $4.4 billion and $4.53 billion, representing an increase of 66.3%-71.3% from the first quarter of last year. This business outlook reflects the company's current and preliminary view on its business situation and market condition, which is subject to change. That concludes our prepared remarks. I will now turn the call over to the operator to start our Q&A session.
Thank you.
Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. For the benefit of all participants on today's call, please limit yourself to two questions. If you have additional questions, you can reenter the queue. If you are a Mandarin speaker, please ask your questions in Chinese first, then follow with English translation. Your first question comes from Bin Wang with Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.
谢谢。恭喜非常亮丽的业绩。我有两个问题想请教一下。第一个就是公司曾经有提过在2024年单月销量超过10万台，单车销量在单月要超过3万台。请问在今年市场竞争比较激烈的情况之下，这个指引是否有变化？如果没有变化的话，想问一下在哪个月能实现单月10万台，以及实现10万台的时候，这个车型的构成是怎么样的？这是第一个问题。第二个问题就是之前公司有指引过在2024年某个时候要成为中国自动驾驶的第一梯队。那想请问一下目前你想觉得在跟市面上的领先企业，比如说华为或小鹏的差距在什么地方？什么时候可以追平或者超越他们？谢谢。我翻译一下。 Congratulations for the great result. Actually, I got two questions. Number one is that you previously mentioned you want to deliver 100,000 units monthly sales number in a certain month this year, and the unit for single products actually can reach more than 30,000 units. Amid current very tough pricing competition, do you change your guidance? If no, when do you think the monthly volume can reach this 100,000 units? And do you provide a breakdown of this 100,000 units by model? And the second question is that the company previously got that they want to be the first tier in the self-driving technology in China. Can I ask what's the difference or gap between the leading players in China, such as Huawei and XPeng, and when do you think you can catch up and exceed them? Position. Thank you.
Okay. I will take the first question. This is James Zou Liangjun from Li Auto, SVP of Sales and Service. Very good question, Mr. Wang Bin. Our guidance remains unchanged. We are still talking to sell over 100,000 models by the end of this year. Starting from March 2024, we will commence delivering of the MEGA and also 2024 year model L9, L8, and L7 models, making our entrance into a brand new product cycle. With the launch and delivery of more competitive new products, we anticipate our monthly deliveries to exceed 50,000 vehicles in March, which is next month, and 70,000 in June, so the first half year. When we hit the 70,000 monthly deliveries milestone in June, the market will have a better understanding of all of our company's assumptions and dedication. We encourage you to watch our performance in the coming months.
I will hand over to Mr. Ma to answer your second question.
NOA 功能，提高高速匝道变速的这样的一个体变道的一个体验。所以我们非常有信心地说，2024 年理想汽车的智能驾驶的产品和研发能力在国内绝对是数一数二的。谢谢。
We released our OTA 5.0 around the end of 2023, and full-scenario NOA is now available in over 110 cities around China. Based on our statistics, in two months after the release, the daily active usage for NOA has increased 50% compared to before the OTA. We have accumulated over 100 million kilometers on NOA since the release. NOA has helped our users with over 3 million parking maneuvers. AD has avoided over 30,000 accidents for our users. All this data and all the positive feedback from users and media are great testaments to our product competitiveness. In the second quarter of 2024, our AD Max models will be delivering mapless capabilities, city NOA in all cities in China, and will not be constrained by number of cities. It will be delivered to all cars equipped with AD Max through OTA.
In terms of AD Pro, cars equipped with AD Pro, we will also be deploying BEV big large model to upgrade the Highway NOA features, increasing the ramp experience and lane change experience. So we're very confident to say that 2024, in terms of our AD products and R&D capabilities, we're among the top in China.
Thank you.
Your next question comes from Tim Hsiao with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
L6的上市。所以公司在对应这些新车型的时候，如何确保准时量产的一个爬坡、快速交付以及极短库存周期的一个运行？那会不会有一些可能跟生产供给的一些瓶颈在？ So my first question is about the production and potential bottleneck. Because Li Auto first quarter volume guidance of 100,000-103,000 units implies a very significant ramp in March to 50,000 units or more. So considering several new models are coming to the market at around the same time, including Li MEGA, Li L6, facelift of a whole L series, would there be any risk of supply bottleneck into March and April? What has the company done so far to ensure the smooth production ramp deliveries while keeping the inventory low? So that's my first question.
我是Ma Donghui。我来回答这个问题。那首先我们在新产品爬坡方面是有成功经验的，做到产品即上市即上量。那在Li L9、Li L7上市之后的话，第一个完整自然月我们就实现生产和交付的一个过半，并且我们把这些经验进行的话，总结沉积在我们系统当中。那以后无论是说新工厂还是说新工人，都能够很好的借鉴和复制这些成功的经验。那关于新车型方面的话，我们研发几款新车型的进度都符合开发计划。那在制造方面的话，我们提前就完成了工厂的产能规划，完成了厂房和产线的建设，以及蓝领工人的招聘和培训。那在供应方面的话，我们也提前做好了供应的产能策略和风险的分析。那针对已经识别到的风险，已经制定了预案。那并且在计划方面，我们通过集成计划打通了端到端的供需，并且提前进行了固化。那2024年的确是我们新产品上市的大年，我们有信心确保生产交付的稳定性和及时性。
First of all, we have a lot of great experience in new product launches and ramp up to achieve volume shortly after product launch. In the first calendar month after the launch of L7 and L9 respectively, we have been able to successfully produce and deliver over 10,000 units for each model. We have collected all these best practices and lessons learned and put them into our system. So whether it's new factories or new employees, they're all very able to very easily replicate these successes in the past. In terms of new models on the R&D front, all the new vehicle lines are being developed on schedule. In terms of production, we have already completed the construction of our factories ahead of time and recruited and trained the relevant blue-collar workers.
On the supply front, we have already built the supply capabilities and completed the risk analysis and have created plans and strategies based on the risks identified. On the planning front, using our new integrated planning system, we have connected supply and demand end to end and have locked down all of the necessary requirements from end to end. 2024 will be a big year in terms of new product launches, and we're very confident to maintain the consistency and timeliness of our supply.
谢谢东辉总的回答。我第二个问题是有关于这个产品的布局。因为理想汽车4月份这个L6上市之后，那整个集团已经会完整地覆盖25万以上的一个产品的突破。所以如果我们往后去看的话，当然今年八个车型已经确认，但考虑到新能源车渗透率在大众市场好像仍然偏低。所以后续理想汽车是有可能进一步去做这个产品的下探。那另外我们现在就是滚动分层式的动力总成，就技术上来讲是否有车型或者是一个价格的局限。 The second question is about the product planning. After Li Auto's launch of L6 in April, the group's model portfolio would comprehensively cover a segment above RMB 250,000 or around $35,000. So while Li Auto considers to take into the sub-$35,000 market anytime soon, that presents a more sizable market for NEV conversion. And separately, is there any tech constraint or disadvantage likely preventing Li Auto from building compact or low-price EREV SUV or model to compete with the local peers? So that's my second question.
我是李想。我来回答这个问题。那目前公司的整个产品规划，然后如果往后看5年，是没有20万以下的车型的。对，那因为我们自己的长期的判断，然后如果看到2030年，然后如果只是20万以上的，然后家庭用户的市场，那我觉得我们只需要在中国市场吃到1/3，就可以是一个超过万亿的级别的一个收入。对，如果还能够在海外有一个不错的表现，我认为到2030年，然后单纯的20万以上的家庭用户市场，我们就可以达到一个接近iPhone手机的全球的一个营业收入。我觉得这是一个巨大的金矿。今天我们只吃到的这个金矿的很小的一部分，然后没有必要分散精力，然后去看其他的地方，应该把这个20万以上的家庭市场，然后在全球做得更加深入，然后更加深入人心，获得越来越多的市场份额。我觉得这是我们的最重要的选择。
If we look 5 years down the road, we have no plans to launch any vehicles below the RMB 200,000 price point. Because if we think about long term, up to 2030, if we only focus, even if we only focus on the market over RMB 200,000, just family users, if we were able to take 1/3 of that market in China, our total sales will already be more than RMB 1 trillion. And if you consider overseas by 2030, this market will create a business close to the revenue of all iPhones sold worldwide combined. So this is a huge gold mine that we think we've only mined a very, very small portion. So there is no need to distract ourselves at this point. But rather, we would like to focus exclusively on over RMB 200,000 family market globally.
Our strategy is to continue to dive deep into this market, create a brand, and expand our market share.
Thanks for sharing all the great callers. Congratulations on the great result again. Thank you.
Your next question comes from Yingbo Xu with Citi. Please go ahead.
感谢管理层。我有两个问题。那第一个问题其实是关于今年的价格竞争。我们看到今年的整车市场竞争比较激烈，很多企业都推出了有竞争力的新的产品，而且产品从看起来的角度大看是有一定的趋同。所以我的第一个问题是关于今年我们是计划如何使用价格手段去关注一个量价的平衡，既有一个合理的盈利能力，又保证我们的销量能够达到预期的目标。那么第二个问题就是说，我们想看一下从现在往后看纯电的车型的规划。我们看到了L系列6789的成功，那么很快3月也要迎来Mega。那么在Mega之后能否有更具体的关于纯电车型的一些细节和展望？ I have two questions. The first question is about the pricing and volume balance, and how we see the profitability and volume increase by adjustment of pricing in different periods. My second question is about the following EV models: how we plan after the Mega model? Could you please give us more colors? Thank you.
This is Johnny. But for the first question, I think when we set up the full-year sales target, we have already considered about the competition and also the pace we launch our product. So when we consider that, what we want to say is, before, we will maintain a healthy gross profit margin over 20% always. And based on the market competition, the gross margin will fluctuate between 20%-25% in different quarters. Yeah. And just like last quarter, I think everyone was worried about the competition in the fourth quarter. There will be some promotion. But for every quarter, there will be some other come out from the supply side and also from the material price side. So net-net you can see from our fourth quarter, even we have some promotion in the fourth quarter, but we have more good news from the bump side.
So even though our gross margin increased, yeah, compared with the third quarter. Okay. Cool. So the second question.
Auto史无前例的产品大年，然后年底的时候就会有四款增程电动和四款高压纯电，八款极具竞争力的产品组合，共同满足家庭用户的需求。
For the first half of the year, we will be releasing in our March 1st spring event, Li MEGA as well as 2024 model year Li L7, L8, and L9. And also in first half, we'll be releasing the L6. In the second half of the year, as we've communicated before, we will be releasing yet another three pure electric SUV models, all come standard with 5C charging and all-wheel drive. And I would like to emphasize those cars are very, very competitive, and they will become the top choice for family users in their respective price segments. 2024 will be an unprecedented product year for Li Auto. By the end of the year, we will have four range-extended models and four very competitive BEV models. Eight products are all very competitive, and they will together serve the needs of our family users.
Your next question comes from Tina Hou with Goldman Sachs.
感谢管理层的时间，也恭喜公司取得非常亮眼的业绩。我这边有两个问题。第一个是刚才提到的今年下半年的三款纯电车型，想要了解一下如果从毛利率方面来看的话，由于电池的价格，然后包括我们5C，然后再包括前期可能量稍微比我们增程会小一些，那在毛利率上可能跟增程相比会有多大的一个差距。这是第一个问题。然后第二个问题是想要问一下公司最新的对于海外市场的一个想法，比如说未来三到五年的时间，咱们对海外市场是怎么看的，然后有多大的一个量可以达到。 Thanks, management, for taking my questions and congrats on the very strong result. So I have two questions. The first one is in terms of the three BEV models in the second half of the year. So considering the battery price as well as 5C charging capability and an initially smaller volume versus your EREV models, what kind of margin difference should we expect for the BEV models? And then the second question is in terms of the overseas expansion, what is the management's latest thought for overseas sales volume target over the next three to five years? Thank you.
Tina, this is Johnny. For the gross margin, as we mentioned in the previous calls, both for the BEV and the EREV series, the overall branded gross margin will be 25% for both series. So when we start from Mega and then the 9 series, the gross margin will start from higher to lower. And also, we want still to emphasize the product gross margin established when you define your product. Our products are designed to ensure a healthy gross margin and also balance the customer's demand for each car. And also from the material side, like the battery material, I think since the second half of last year, I think for us, it's good timing to launch our BEV models starting from this year. Thank you.
Okay, Tina. James, I will take your second question. First of all, the overseas market is very important to Li Auto, and we are aiming to start to explore the overseas market, and we are accelerating it. Regarding our plan for overseas exports, we remain committed to our direct sales model in overseas markets, focusing on building a robust sales network and comprehensive after-sales service offerings and infrastructures. With Li Auto's growing popularity globally, we are accelerating the development of our after-sales service network and the spare parts supply chains to ensure outstanding service experience for our international customers. By the way, we have successfully set up operations in the Middle East and initiated the recruitment of local sales and service teams in Dubai. In the first half year this year, we plan to establish dedicated after-sales service network in Central Asia and the Middle East.
By the first quarter of this year, we will commence overseas delivery starting with the introduction of L9 and L7 models in local regions, by the way, which is also customized for the local environment and the local policies. Thank you.
Your next question comes from Ming Hsun Lee with Bank of America. Please go ahead.
管理层谢谢接受我的提问。那这边两个问题提问。第一个问题还是跟毛利率有关系。我看了问得比较短一点，就是想请教一季度跟二季度的话，毛利率的趋势跟四季度比是怎么样？比方说一季度因为销量比较少一点，折扣也比较多一点，是不是可能毛利率会稍微下来？然后那二季度的话，是不是透过2024年的L789上市之后，一方面可以帮毛利率有所改善，然后加上Mega的整个季度的完全的贡献，是不是能够在毛利率的恢复上比较快？那另外也想知道L6对毛利率是怎么样？是一个比较neutral还是说会稍微比平均略低一点？那我先翻译我第一个问题。 So my first question is still related to gross margin trend in first quarter and the second quarter. In first quarter, because you are selling the 2023 version of L7, L8, and L9, so will your gross margin slightly lower than 4Q? But in the second quarter, since you have a four-quarter contribution from Mega, so do you expect the gross margin to recover? And also, how is the L6 to overall margin? 谢谢，这是我第一个问题。
Hi, this is Johnny. I think all the factors you mentioned are clear for the gross margin. The company will maintain a healthy gross margin of about 20% for the first quarter. As we mentioned earlier, the company will also maintain a healthy gross margin, which means always about 20% throughout the full year. For the Mega and the 2024 model of L series, it will be a positive factor for the gross margin starting from March. The L6 will be negative if we want to, say, be for the over 20% gross margin. With our volume growth, it will be a positive factor for the gross margin. Yeah. For every quarter, there are some positive and negative, which is helpful for you.
谢谢。那我第二个问题是关于充电站的问题。那因为我们今年预计要建2,000座超充站，那想了解一下公司整个的资本开支，还有或者是说充电站相关的资本开支。那李蒋总之前有提过说5C充电站将成为盈利好的投资项目。那公司有预计超充站何时能够达到盈利或者是损平，或者是现金流损平吗？那我翻译一下我的问题。 Li Auto plans to expand the charging station to 2,000 by the end of this year. What do we expect the total CapEx? Previously, Chairman mentioned the charging station could be a profitable investment project. So when do you expect your charging station can reach break-even or cash flow break-even? Thank you.
Okay. I will take this question, James. So by the end of 2024, and the company plans to build a total of 2,000 charging stations, as you just mentioned, by the end of this year, we will have built more than 700 highway supercharging stations covering 70% of the highways in China as well as 90% of the highways in the four major economic zones. With the successive launches of BEV models this year, we have also begun to simultaneously accelerate the expansion of charging stations in cities. We anticipate that by the end of this year, the number of charging stations in cities will exceed 1,300, so totally 2,000. The company's cash reserve is amplified, and we have allocated sufficient capital for the construction of charging stations. The company has detailed operating models for the evaluation of each charging station.
By the way, personally, I'm looking after each and every charging station investment. Each station has its own profitability and ROI target. From a long-term perspective, we are very confident in our charging station's profitability prospect. Thank you.
Your next question comes from Yuqian Ding with HSBC.
Ding，两个问题想请教。第一个是想请教管理层如何看待整个行业的拐点，因为我们看到理想业绩新高，也有其他的一些日前的新闻关于其他企业的关停并转。在整个需求比较低迷和持续的价格战中间，理想汽车2024年的战略重点和执行的节奏如何解读？那第二条问题想请教公司在开拓新的城市，管理层认为什么时候是智能驾驶的iPhone moment，以及如何看待虽然技术快速发展，但是目前智能驾驶在中国市场的同业的产品可能比较同质化，而且目前没有明显的收费模式。 Two questions. The first, we notice the industry is going through a painful consolidation while Li Auto booked a record high earnings. Many are struggling. How to look at the inflection point of the industry consolidation against the weak car demand and continuous pricing war, including Li Auto? What is Li Auto's strategy priority list this year? And second questions, management do talk about OTA and NOA in more cities and scenarios. When would be the iPhone moment for the autonomous driving development from management perspective, and how to read, despite the technology progress, the current autonomous driving market offering might be running homogeneous and lack of revenue model in the near term?
我是李想。我来回答这问题。然后我觉得首先我们会坚持我们一贯的看法，就是认为智能电动车的竞争会形成头部的集中。对，那我能做一个预测。我们看到2024年的第四季度，然后看20万以上的新能源汽车，我认为会出现一个大家想象不到的局面，就是会有头部的三家品牌到了今年的第四季度，然后可以获得三个品牌可以获得接近70%的市场份额。对，我们可以到今年第四季度进行验证。对，所以这是我们对于整个的市场份额的走势的一个判断。所以无论市场环境如何变化，我们都会更加专注，然后做好真正的用户价值，从而提升公司在市场中的竞争力。所以2024年是我们的很重要的产品的大年，然后每一款产品都要从每一个细节到完整的交付都要做好。那我另外一方面我们也会大幅增加研发的投入，持续提升在智能驾驶、智能空间、智能电动方面的技术的能力，并把这些能力转化成用户的价值。对，然后总体来讲，我们将在今年挑战年交付80万辆，实现中国市场豪华汽车品牌销量的第一的目标。然后为此，公司的各个团队都已经做好了准备。
So as we have always maintained before, we believe in the smart EV industry, there will be a very clear Matthew effect as we develop the evolves, and as we'll see in the very near future. Here, I'll make a prediction. By Q4 this year, in the market of RMB 200,000 and above, the top three brands will command close to 70% of market share, or in other words, CR3 will reach close to 70%. And we can test this hypothesis by the end of this year. And in order to prevail in this competitive environment, we will continue to focus on user value creation, which will convert into our competitive advantage. So on the product front, we will continue to focus on making all the details perfect and delivering the full product experience to our users.
On the R&D front, we will invest in our autonomous driving, smart space, and high voltage and range-extended EV platforms, and convert all these investments into user value. With that, our goal continues to be selling 800,000 units this year in 2024 and becoming the top one premium brand in China. The team is all lined up to be ready to achieve this goal this year.
我是马东辉。我来回答第二个问题。关于智能驾驶的iPhone moment，我个人觉得会在未来的两到三年以内的话会到来。那iPhone的话彻底改变了大家对于智能手机的认知。虽然第一代的话还不是非常完美，但是它包含了iPhone成功的所有要素，比如说设计、交互、软件和商业模式。那类比到智能驾驶，随着L2、L3智能驾驶规模化的量产，对于数据积累的量变以及AI大模型的能力不断提升，那我相信智能驾驶也一定会迎来的话质变，迎来iPhone moment的话时刻的到来。那可能一瞬间，那在硬件上已经提前做好配置的车辆，可能几十万台甚至上百万台就实现了智能驾驶。那对于理想汽车而言的话，我们始终是坚持智能驾驶的一个标配。那暂时的话是没有订阅和额外收费的这样一个计划。那这种标配的话会使我们智能驾驶的使用用户数量更多，帮助我们收集到更多的数据量，那促进我们算法能力的提升，那从而进一步提升智能驾驶用户的一个使用体验，形成正向循环。
Personally, I believe the iPhone 4 moment for autonomous driving will come in 2-3 years. iPhone 4 completely changed people's perception of smartphones. The iPhone 4 itself may not be perfect, but it encompasses all of the important factors for its success, including industrial design, user interaction, hardware, software, and business model. Compare that to autonomous driving with L2 and L3 reaching scale and being delivered in volume, and data continues to accumulate as well as the deployment of AI large models. I believe that autonomous driving will reach an inflection point, reaching its iPhone 4 moment. Maybe all of a sudden, overnight, all of the cars equipped with the hardware, maybe hundreds of thousands or even over a million, will achieve autonomous driving.
For Li Auto, we continue to invest in making autonomous driving hardware standard for all of our vehicles, and we have no plans for subscription or extra charge at the moment. Making autonomous driving set standard will bring us as many users as possible, collect as much data as possible, and help us to increase and improve our algorithms and improve the experience for our users. That creates a very positive cycle.
As we are reaching the end of our conference call now, I'd like to turn the call back over to Kobe Wang for any additional or closing comments.
Thank you once again for joining us today. If you have any more questions, please feel free to contact Li Auto's IR team. To conclude this conference call, you may now disconnect your line. Thank you. Bye.