(Yicai Global) Sept. 5 -- Li Auto will end production next month of its first model, the Li One, Securities Times reported today, citing staff at the Chinese new energy vehicle maker.

The price of the Li One also will be lowered by CNY20,000 (USD2,885) to boost flagging sales, the report said.

The news comes amid a flurry of online rumors that production of the sports utility vehicle would end soon. The Li one’s successor, the L8, will be officially unveiled in November, with deliveries slated to begin in the same month, Li Auto co-founder Shen Ya'nan said last month.

Shares of the Beijing-based startup [HKG: 2015] declined 2.5 percent in Hong Kong today to end at HKD106.20 (USD13.53) apiece. The benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 1.2 percent.

The advent of the L8 was the main reason for low sales of the Li One last month, according to analysis by Soochow Securities. Deliveries of the L9, released in June and priced at over CNY400,000 (USD57,700), also have been affected by delayed supplies from a range extender plant in Mianyang, Sichuan province.

Launched in October 2018 with a guide price of CNY349,800, the Li One was the best-selling new energy SUV in the Chinese market in 2020 and it became the first model from a Chinese NEV startup to sell more than 200,000. But sales nosedived last month ahead of the release of the L8.

Li Auto delivered 4,571 cars in the month, made up of the Li One and the L9, down 51 percent from a year earlier and more than 56 percent from July.

Editor: Tom Litting