SHANGHAI, April 22 (Reuters) - Chinese automaker Li Auto ( LI )

on Monday cut prices by around 5% on four of its five

models and said it would refund owners who had bought those

models earlier this year, deepening a price war in the country.

The move by Li Auto ( LI ), the most popular extended-range hybrid

seller in China, comes after price cuts by U.S. automaker Tesla

and as BYD, the world's largest EV maker, revised down

its prices for relaunched models.

Li Auto ( LI ) announced cuts of between 18,000 and 30,000 yuan

($2,485-$4,142) on its L7, Li L8, Li L9, and Li MEGA models and

said owners who had already picked up those models this year

would also receive cash refunds. The company earlier offered

discounts on some models in January.

It launched a new extended range electric vehicle, the Li

L6, last week, and said that the vehicle sold more than 10,000

units within 72 hours of its launch.

The price war in the world's largest auto market started

early last year with cuts by Tesla and has since drawn in dozens

of automakers. Other automakers that have slashed prices this

year include Geely Auto, GAC Aion, Leapmotor

and Xpeng ( XPEV ).

($1 = 7.2431 Chinese yuan renminbi)