Li Auto has rejected claims made by a person who said they work at the Chinese electric car startup that the company is letting go staff and slashing its budget.

None of what the person said is true, a spokesperson for the Beijing-based company told the media yesterday.

Writing on social media recently, the person said Li Auto has suspended hiring, does not allow staff to sell their stock options unless they meet work performance criteria, and has slashed its budget by over 30 percent. The automaker will also reduce its headcount because it has too many workers based on their schedules and the goal of selling 800,000 cars a year, the person added.

Li Auto launched its highly anticipated model, the Mega, on March 1 to lackluster sales. The model is priced at over CNY500,000 (USD69,150). The firm’s user value and operationing efficiency have slipped due to it paying too much attention to sales and competition, founder and Chief Executive Li Xiang said in a letter to employees on March 21.

Li Auto announced a reorganization of several departments on April 3, focusing on the CEO's office, which changed from overseeing the brand, product, commercial, strategy, and supply departments to a product and strategy group. The new group will set up a product line and a quality operations departments, specializing in products and strategies, and no longer report to Li.

Li Auto delivered 28,984 autos last month, up 39 percent from a year earlier, while its first-quarter deliveries jumped 53 percent to 80,400.