The short version: Li Auto vehicles will start rolling off an assembly line in Kazakhstan in November 2026, at the SaryarkaAvtoProm plant in Kostanay owned by Allur. Three extended-range hybrid SUVs, the L6, L7 and L9, come first. Capacity is up to 10,000 cars a year. The line starts with SKD (semi-knocked-down) assembly, and the cars will initially be sold only in Kazakhstan. Li Auto says this is the first time its vehicles will be produced outside China.
Who set the date
Allur vice president Maxim Myagchilov announced the November launch in late September: “In November our first production will start.” Business outlet LS, the IDA.kz portal and Russian magazine 4x4 Club all reported it.
How the partnership got here
It took three steps. On 29 August 2025, Allur announced on its website that it had signed a partnership with Li Auto, becoming the brand’s first partner in Kazakhstan, with the first dealership opening in Astana. The models on sale then were the same L6, L7 and L9.
According to IDA.kz, the two companies signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Astana at the end of June 2026. Tengrinews reported on 1 July that the deal covers serial production of Li Auto cars at Allur’s Kostanay plant, with localisation and a local component base. Nestor Wu, Li Auto’s managing director for international business, said at the signing that Kazakhstan would be the first country outside China to build the brand’s cars, and Allur the first partner anywhere entrusted with serial production at its own facility. Li Auto will also help train Kazakh engineers.
By September the timing was fixed for November. Tengrinews noted that Li Auto dealerships already operate in Astana and Almaty.
Big modules first, deeper localisation later
In the first phase, bodies and major modules arrive from China and are put together in Kostanay. Allur says it may later move to CKD (completely knocked-down) assembly. As 4x4 Club explains, that would mean welding and painting bodies on site, a much deeper level of localisation. No timeline for that step has been given.
A discrepancy over models
Rules related to this news
At the June signing the first models were listed as the L6, L8 and L9; in September Allur named the L6, L7 and L9. 4x4 Club flagged the difference too, noting that recent Kazakh statements consistently cite the latter three. The final line-up should be confirmed at the official launch in November.
Prices and exports
Pricing is still being agreed with Li Auto’s local office and will be announced at launch. Allur expects locally assembled cars to cost less than imports but has not said by how much. Exports to Central Asia and the EAEU are being studied; according to 4x4 Club, no final decision has been made.
What it means for Chinese companies
Li Auto is not building its own plant. It is using an experienced local manufacturer’s capacity, starting with SKD and leaving deeper localisation for later. For Chinese carmakers eyeing Kazakhstan, that route needs less capital and time up front, though a lot depends on the terms agreed with the plant.
Shipping modules from China creates a fairly steady flow of automotive components between the two countries. Logistics and customs operators may want to watch the Kostanay route.
The agreement provides for a local component base. Parts suppliers would do well to wait for Allur’s localisation plans and time their entry against them.
Cover image: AI-generated illustration, not a photograph and not a direct depiction of the events described.
Sources:
LS (lsm.kz), https://lsm.kz/v-kazahstane-zapuskaetsya-proizvodstvo-avtomobilej
IDA.kz, https://ida.kz/novosti/sborka-li-auto-v-kazahstane-startuet-v-noyabre/
4x4 Club magazine (4x4.media), https://4x4.media/li-auto-nachnet-sborku-v-kazakhstane-pravda-sroki-sdvinulis-na-noyabr.html
Tengrinews, https://tengrinews.kz/autonews/li-auto-nachnut-proizvodit-v-kostanae-602923/
Allur official website, https://allur.kz/news/li-auto-%D0%BE%D1%84%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%BE-%D0%B2%D1%8B%D1%85%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%82-%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D1%80%D1%8B%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BA-%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%85%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0