(Yicai Global) June 23 -- Li Auto’s shares touched a new high in Hong Kong after the Chinese electric carmaker received a raft of orders for its newly released sports utility vehicle.

After surging almost 12 percent to HKD157.60 (USD20.08) in the afternoon, Li Auto [HKG: 2015] ended the day 9.4 percent higher at HKD154.20. Its New York-listed stock [NASDAQ: LI] gained 2.9 percent yesterday.

Orders for the L9, priced at CNY459,800 (USD68,510), CNY110,000 more than the Li One, exceeded 10,000 on June 21, the day the new model was launched, Securities Times reported, citing an insider. The L9 will start being delivered at the end of August.

L9 sales will surpass those of the Li One, the automaker’s founder Li Xiang said at the new vehicle’s launch event. The Beijing-based firm handed over nearly 171,500 Li Ones to new owners during the past three years, including 11,496 last month, a 166 percent jump from a year earlier.

Li Auto is expanding its proaction capacity amid surging sales. It acquired a plant in Beijing’s Shunyi district from Beijing Hyundai Motor, a joint venture of BAIC Motor and South Korea’s Hyundai Motor, in the second half of last year and is now upgrading the facility. The firm also has a plant in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, and plans to build a third in Chongqing, Yicai Global learned.

Editor: Futura Costaglione