Dongfeng Nissan executive fires back after Li Xiang WeChat call‑out: "We respect every peer, including Li Auto (理想汽车)"

Executive response and the immediate spat

Dongfeng Nissan (东风日产) issued a short public reply midday after Li Xiang (李想), chairman and CEO of Li Auto (理想汽车), posted a controversial message on his WeChat Moments comparing some automakers to "puppet collaborators" (日伪). The joint‑venture automaker said it "always abides by industry rules, advocates healthy competition, and respects every peer, including Li Auto (理想汽车)," framing the exchange as a commercial dispute rather than a personal attack.

What Li Xiang alleged

Li Xiang had written that "history shows puppet collaborators are often worse than occupiers," and reportedly accused a Japanese brand of hiring armies of marketing accounts and blank or fake profiles to smear Li Auto products and flood review sections — conduct he said violated the government's post‑2025 anti‑involution (反内卷) push. He also said he would seek legal remedies and asked regulators to intervene to protect market order. These accusations remain contested; it has been reported that authorities in Shandong Yantai recently arrested a new‑style online "water army" accused of using AI to generate negative articles about several Chinese tech and auto brands.

Industry context and why this matters

The clash highlights tensions in China's fast‑moving new energy vehicle (NEV) market, where incumbent joint ventures, foreign brands and fast‑growing local challengers are competing across EV, range‑extender and hybrid lines. Dongfeng Nissan has been aggressively rolling out NEV models — N7, N6 and NX8 — under a renewed leadership push after Wang Qian (王骞) took charge of its NEV brand transformation late in 2024. For Western readers: many foreign automakers operate in China through joint ventures and are sensitive to local regulatory and reputational risks, and public accusations of coordinated online attacks can escalate into regulatory or diplomatic scrutiny.

Next steps and wider implications

For now, both sides have kept their language measured: Dongfeng Nissan stressing industry norms, Li Xiang threatening legal and regulatory action. Will Chinese regulators move to police "water armies" and commercial smear campaigns more vigorously? Given Beijing's stated aim to curb unhealthy competition online and the recent police action reports, the industry — and potentially foreign partners — will be watching closely.