Li Auto Accuses Japanese Brands of Hiring Trolls to Smear Reputation as Automaker PR Wars Escalate

On the afternoon of April 11, 2024, Li Xiang, CEO of Li Auto, posted on social media accusing a Japanese automaker of hiring numerous marketing accounts to disparage Li Auto’s products and organizing “blackwater armies” to flood comment sections, thereby disrupting the company’s normal operations. In response, Wang Qian, General Manager of Dongfeng Nissan’s new energy brand, stated that the company has always adhered to industry standards. Li Auto’s legal department announced it has already secured relevant evidence and will pursue legal accountability. In recent years, competition in China’s automotive market has intensified, with industry profit margins continuously declining. Beyond price wars, technology races, and talent battles, public opinion warfare has gradually emerged as a new battleground. Li Auto has previously faced repeated online attacks targeting models such as the MEGA and i8, while Dongfeng Nissan’s N6 model encountered large-scale coordinated trolling upon its launch. Numerous senior executives—including Wei Jianjun, Chairman of Great Wall Motor; Lei Jun, founder of Xiaomi Group; and Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Holding Group—have publicly criticized the phenomenon of online water armies. Although six government departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), jointly launched a special campaign in September 2025 to rectify online malpractices in the automotive sector, the problem of water armies persists. An industry-wide “theater effect” prevails: while automakers universally resent water armies, they feel compelled to deploy them out of fear that competitors are doing so. Given the low cost and minimal risk associated with hiring water armies, related industrial chains continue to thrive. Some companies have attempted bounty programs for reporting such activities—BYD, for instance, has run one for four years—but very few rewards have actually been paid out. Today’s online water armies operate with increasing sophistication and stealth, employing multi-layered anonymity strategies involving identities, accounts, and coordinated actions. AI technologies have further enabled new forms of automated water armies. Additionally, self-organized grassroots campaigns—such as “brand devotees” and “company-wide marketing”—have evolved into systematic dissemination networks that are even harder to detect and regulate than traditional water armies. Notably, excessive manipulation of public opinion can provoke public backlash. The industry widely agrees that, ultimately, success in the automotive sector hinges on product quality and technological strength—not舆论 offensives. This incident is not isolated; as market competition intensifies further, public opinion battles among automakers are likely to escalate.