Asia Tech Wire (May 17) -- Chinese electric car manufacturer Li Auto is in trouble again and was recently brought to court by investors in a class action lawsuit in the U.S.

Beijing lawyer Hao Junbo posted that investors accused Li Auto and some of its executives of making false statements and violating securities laws, which caused them to suffer losses.

The investors petitioned the court to order the defendants to compensate the investors for the losses they suffered as a result of the drop in share price caused by their illegal behavior.

In response, Li Auto confirmed the lawsuits and said that the allegations are baseless, while making every effort to protect the company and shareholders' interests.

The investors have questioned the effectiveness of Li Auto's operational strategy in launching its first all-electric MPV, the MEGA, by overstating market demand.

It is unlikely that the company will actually meet its vehicle delivery expectations for the first quarter, and if this news is disclosed, it will likely have a negative impact on the company's financial position.

Thus, there were material false and misleading public statements made by Li Auto during the pendency of this lawsuit.

In late March, Li Auto lowered its 2024 sales target to 640,000 units from 800,000 units. The sales target cut came on the heels of sluggish MEGA sales, with just 671 units sold in April.

Meanwhile, reports emerged on Thursday that a new round of workforce optimization is currently underway within Li Auto, reaching an overall optimization rate of more than 18%.

As of December 31, 2023, Li Auto had 31,591 employees. Based on the optimization ratio, this round of workforce optimization involves more than 5,600 people.