Video: Li Auto’s overly optimistic crash test ad causes a big scandal

Chinese automaker Li Auto has chosen a rather unconventional way to advertise its latest-and-greatest electric crossover, the Li i8. The car was set on a collision course with a Dongfeng Liuzhou Motors truck, hitting it head-on at a combined 100 km/h (62 mph). What happened next arguably belongs in a Bollywood action movie, not a serious car commercial.

If you can’t watch it right now, here’s the rundown. The collision sends the truck up into the air, all wheels losing contact with the asphalt and the cab nodding forward as if from the sheer force of the impact. For its own part, the Li i8 seems to hold the road perfectly, standing still and apparently intact from the collision.

Li Auto arguably made matters worse when it accompanied the ad with a description claiming that the SUV survived the crash with all of its passenger bay pillars intact and its airbags fully deployed. While the latter is somewhat expected of a vehicle made in 2025, an intact frame is not something you can realistically expect to find in a unibody SUV weighing 2.6 metric tons (5,732 lbs) ramming a semi weighing no less than 8 tons (17,637 lbs).

Naturally, the video has caused a great deal of controversy online, with viewers accusing Li Auto of staging the test and/or prepping the Dongfeng Liuzhou Motors truck to jump into the air like it did.

Dongfeng Motors has poured oil into the fire by commenting that it, too, was “unconvinced with the crash test results.” This led to Li Auto editing the original footage and blurring out the Dongfeng logos. In a last-ditch attempt at damage control, Li Auto claimed that “an independent third party” was filming the ad without any guidance whatsoever from the automaker. That’s a cool story if we ever heard one.