The scorched-earth competition within China’s electric vehicle (EV) sector has moved from the showroom to the courtroom. Li Auto, one of the country’s leading premium EV makers, has publicly accused a Japanese joint venture brand—specifically Dongfeng Nissan—of orchestrating a coordinated smear campaign. The company’s legal department claims that a deluge of malicious posts and "organized" negative reviews targeted its new i6 and L6 models following a competitor’s product launch.
Li Auto’s founder, the outspoken Li Xiang, did not mince words in his assessment of the situation. He characterized the alleged use of "marketing accounts" and "black water armies" (paid internet trolls) as a flagrant violation of industry ethics. According to the company, the suspicious online activity featured highly homogenized content and originated from concentrated IP addresses, suggesting a professional operation rather than organic consumer feedback.
In a swift rebuttal, Wang Qian, the General Manager of Dongfeng Nissan’s New Energy brand, issued a statement emphasizing the company's commitment to industry rules. He maintained that Dongfeng Nissan advocates for healthy competition and respects all peers contributing to China’s automotive growth, including Li Auto. This diplomatic response highlights a widening rift between legacy joint ventures struggling for relevance and the aggressive new wave of domestic EV startups.
The spat is a symptom of a broader malaise known as "involution," or hyper-competition, which has gripped the Chinese auto market. As growth slows and the number of players remains high, some firms have reportedly pivoted from technical innovation to reputational sabotage. Industry insiders suggest that major NEV manufacturers now spend millions, sometimes hundreds of millions of yuan annually, just to counter coordinated disinformation campaigns.
Beijing is taking notice of this digital volatility. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), alongside five other government departments, recently announced a three-month intensive crackdown on "online chaos" in the automotive industry. This initiative specifically targets illegal profiteering through disinformation and the use of fake reviews to mislead consumers, signaling that the state’s patience with toxic marketing tactics has reached its limit.