On September 22, Li Auto’s legal department announced that they had received the final ruling from the court. The court ruled that the holder of the Weibo account “A5W工,” Zhang, maliciously posted distorted facts and deliberately defamed the Li Auto MEGA model the day before its launch, aiming to gain unjustified online traffic. Zhang and his affiliated MCN (multi-channel network) agency, a brand management company in Shanghai, were found to have jointly infringed and were ordered to bear legal responsibility for the infringement. The court ruled that Zhang and the MCN agency should publicly apologize by pinning the apology on their network account, and compensate Li Auto for the corresponding economic loss and reasonable legal expenses.
Li Auto also pointed out that, according to the court’s findings, on February 29, 2024, at 22:02, the defendant Zhang posted a Weibo post in which the promotional video for the Li Auto MEGA was altered with dark tones, changed background music, and included a significant amount of insulting content, maliciously defaming the Li Auto MEGA model. The MCN agency, Shanghai-based brand management company, allowed the infringement to spread and, along with Zhang, was held jointly responsible for the infringement. Li Auto solemnly declared that cyberspace is not beyond the law, and any illegal activities, such as distorting facts or publishing defamatory statements, will be firmly pursued with legal responsibility to protect Li Auto’s legitimate rights and interests.
According to a screenshot of the official ruling, the court ordered the defendant, Zhang, and the Shanghai brand management company to publicly apologize to Li Auto’s Changzhou branch within 15 days from the effective date of the ruling. The apology should remain pinned for at least 10 days, and they are to compensate Li Auto for economic losses of ¥100,000 and legal fees of ¥20,000.
The case involves Li Auto’s first all-electric MPV model, the Li Auto MEGA, which was launched on March 1 last year, priced at ¥559,800. The Li Auto MEGA, as a flagship model for 2024, was highly anticipated. The company had even promoted it as expected to become the best-selling model among all passenger cars priced above ¥500,000. However, after its launch, the MEGA faced malicious online alterations due to its unique design, which led to a cooling of its sales in the market. In the first month after its release, only 3,229 units were sold. At that time, Li Auto’s CEO, Li Xiang, responded to the malicious attacks on the Li Auto MEGA, calling it an illegal act of defamation and organizing criminal behavior, and Li Auto decided to fight back using legal tools to expose the culprits behind the attacks.
This year, Li Xiang also addressed the MEGA controversy in several public appearances, calling it “the biggest defamation incident in automotive history” and stating that every new car launch by Li Auto faces similar situations.
In fact, with the rapid development of the internet, many self-media outlets have resorted to publishing misleading information to attract attention and gain traffic. In response to such defamation and rumor-mongering, many car companies, including Li Auto, are stepping up efforts to combat these actions. On September 11, Li Auto’s legal department announced on Weibo that it had investigated and found that 332 accounts from 13 MCN agencies under a certain internet technology company had maliciously slandered Li Auto’s product quality and business conditions by copying, rewriting, and fabricating false information in bulk. Li Auto has gathered relevant evidence and will pursue legal actions, including but not limited to criminal reports, administrative complaints, and civil lawsuits.
