Xpeng to launch cheaper EV model amid fierce China value competitors By Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese language electric-vehicle (EV) maker Xpeng (NYSE:) introduced plans to launch a less expensive model, coming into a extremely aggressive phase amid an intense value competitors within the EV business.

Fashions of the model, to be launched inside the subsequent month, might be priced between 100,000 yuan and 150,000 yuan ($14,000-$21,000), Xpeng Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng instructed an business occasion in Beijing on Saturday, the corporate posted on its official WeChat account.

That compares with a 200,000-300,000-yuan vary the place premium EV makers usually costs their vehicles.

Competitors in China’s EV market has intensified as corporations race to chop costs, with market chief BYD (SZ:) spearheading a deeper spherical of value reductions.

Xpeng mentioned it is going to successively introduce fashions underneath the model, which it didn’t identify, every with totally different ranges of clever driving capabilities. The brand new model is devoted to creating “the primary AI-assisted driving automobile for younger individuals”, it mentioned.

Gross sales of battery-powered EVs in China slowed to 18.2% within the first two months of the 12 months from 20.8% for all of 2023, in accordance with the China Passenger Automobile Affiliation.

($1 = 7.1954 renminbi)