Category: XPeng

China Electric eMobility eV XPeng XPeng Team

XPeng finishes consolidating sales system to improve efficiency, report says

Post author By Phate Zhang/CnEVPost
Post date March 15, 2023

The management teams of XPeng's direct sales channel and its authorized dealer channel have been combined to reduce unnecessary competition for interest from within, according to local media.

XPeng US | XPeng HK

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

XPeng's (NYSE: XPEV) organizational restructuring appears to be continuing, with the latest move completing a major reorganization of its sales system, according to a new report.

XPeng's sales system has recently completed changes in its internal management structure, with the management teams of its direct sales channel as well as its authorized dealer channel being merged, according to a report by local media outlet Jiemian.

The company is one of the rare new Chinese carmakers to have both a direct and dealership system. This approach helped XPeng rapidly expand its number of stores and reduce the cost of building them in the early stages of its development, Jiemian's report noted.

As of the third quarter of last year, XPeng had more than 400 stores, of which about 70 percent were directly operated by the company and 30 percent were authorized dealers. As a comparison, Li Auto and NIO's latest store counts were 296 and 387, respectively, according to the report.

However, these two sales channels of XPeng are managed by different teams and thus have the problem of competing for each other's interests.

XPeng's directly managed stores are under XPeng Auto Trading, headed by co-founder He Tao. Its authorized dealers are managed by the UDS (User Development Service Center) team, headed by chief talent officer and vice president of sales Liao Qinghong.

A previous report by local media 36kr mentioned that at the height of competition between these two teams, XPeng's direct system received a fund, one of the invisible uses of which was to find problems with the authorized dealer system.

Disruptions in the sales network were one of the reasons for XPeng's poor sales performance last year, Jiemian's report noted.

XPeng sold 120,757 vehicles in 2022, meeting only 48.3 percent of its full-year sales target, according to the report.

Starting in January, XPeng began integrating the two different sales systems, a process that was recently completed, Jiemian's report said, citing a source familiar with the matter.

On January 30, XPeng announced that Wang Fengying, formerly president of Great Wall Motor, has been named president of the company.

Ms. Wang will be responsible for XPeng's product planning, portfolio management and sales operations, reporting to the company's chairman and chief executive officer, He Xiaopeng, XPeng said at the time.

After heading sales, Ms. Wang removed XPeng's original big region system and redefined more than 20 sales districts, with direct stores and authorized dealers in each district managed by a single head, according to Jiemian.

The unified management of Xpen'sg directly managed stores and authorized dealers will be able to avoid competition between the two and help reduce the impact on consumers, the source said.

XPeng earnings preview: Q4 to be soft with promotions hitting margins

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Tags Li Auto, NIO, XPeng

China Earnings Earnings Preview Electric eMobility eV Tesla XPeng

XPeng earnings preview: Q4 to be soft with promotions hitting margins

Post author By Phate Zhang/CnEVPost
Post date March 15, 2023

"We expect generally soft results and a weak 1Q23 outlook due to challenging demand and pricing dynamics," Edison Yu's team said.

XPeng US | XPeng HK

XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) will report fourth-quarter earnings on Friday, and as usual, Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu's team provided their preview.

"We expect generally soft results and a weak 1Q23 outlook due to challenging demand and pricing dynamics," the team said in a research report sent to investors yesterday.

Soft fourth-quarter

XPeng will report its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2022 on Friday, March 17, before the US markets open.

It delivered 22,204 vehicles in the fourth quarter, above the upper end of the guidance range of 20,000 to 21,000, but down 46.82 percent year-on-year and down 24.91 percent from the third quarter.

XPeng's previous revenue guidance for the fourth quarter was RMB 4.8 billion to RMB 5.1 billion, representing a year-on-year decrease of about 40.4 percent to 43.9 percent.

"We expect a soft quarter with deliveries already reported at 22,204, above management's guidance range (20,000-21,000), but with promotional activity hitting margins," Yu's team wrote.

The team expects XPeng to post revenue of RMB 5.4 billion yuan and a gross margin of 11.5 percent in the fourth quarter.

They expect XPeng's vehicle margin to be 8.5 percent in the fourth quarter, down 3.1 percentage points from the third quarter, and adjusted earnings per share of RMB -2.33.

The current analyst consensus in the Bloomberg survey is for revenue of RMB 5.7 billion, gross margin of 12.1 percent and adjusted EPS of RMB -2.25.

For the first quarter, Yu's team expects deliveries to be around 19,000-20,000 units and for gross margin to drop to single digits as price cuts take hold.

XPeng deliveries in January and February were 5,218 and 6,010 units respectively, for a cumulative total of 11,228 units. Insurance registration figures for the past two weeks suggest that the company did not see a significant improvement in deliveries in March.

Uncertainty in 2023

The key to XPeng's relevance going forward is to win back market share, and that could take several quarters to achieve, which has created significant uncertainty this year, Yu's team said.

Demand for the company's flagship SUV, the G9, has clearly been disappointing, despite mostly positive reviews, the team said, adding that they expect XPeng to potentially make pricing or SKU adjustments to the SUV in the coming months.

XPeng's new P7i sedan should help with order volume, but there won't be materially beneficial until the second quarter, the team said.

Most importantly, XPeng's upcoming Tesla Model Y competitor, the G6, needs to reach at least 5,000 units per month by the end of the year to be considered a success, the team said.

The team now expects XPeng to be on track to deliver 145,000 vehicles in 2023, a 10,000-unit downward revision from earlier, taking into account the decline in G9 sales.

How can capacity utilization be improved?

If XPeng's sales continue to be weak, its management may need to get creative to improve its capacity utilization, Yu's team said, adding that the easiest way to do that would be to sign some large fleet deals.

That may be hard in China, considering BYD and GAC have stronger positions in the taxi and ride-sharing segment, but XPeng recently signed deals with some local car rental companies to buy its P7 sedan, the team noted.

XPeng entered into a strategic partnership with local car rental company eHi Car Services on July 19, 2022, and delivered the first few hundred cars to the latter.

On January 9 this year, XPeng signed agreements with car rental company China Auto Rental and Geely's travel service platform Xiaolinggou Travel Technology, and completed the delivery of the first XPeng P7 vehicles in Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

In addition, XPeng has restarted its expansion efforts in Europe, where large fleet deals could make sense due to the region's high percentage of corporate fleets and low availability of cheap BEV options, Yu's team said.

"We note BYD has an agreement with SIXT for 100,000 EVs and XPeng's vehicles fall into a similar price point. BYD also just announced a 5,000 unit agreement with UK's Octopus EV," the team wrote.

Another option is to partner more deeply with traditional OEMs on EVs and robotaxis, which could come in the form of equity investments or strategic alliances, according to the team.

XPeng offering discounts to clear P7 inventory, facelift to launch next week, report says

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Tags BYD, Geely, Tesla, XPeng

BYD China Deliveries Electric eMobility eV EV Data Insurance Registrations Li Auto Neta Nio Tesla Weekly Data XPeng

China NEV insurance registrations for week ending Mar 12: BYD 37,141, Tesla 17,032, NIO 2,170

Post author By Phate Zhang/CnEVPost
Post date March 14, 2023

This article is being updated, please refresh later for more content.

Tesla's insurance registrations last week in China were higher than the previous week's 13,266, while NIO's were lower than the previous week's 3,345.

BYD's new energy vehicles (NEVs) saw 37,141 insurance registrations in China for the week ending March 12, lower than the previous week's 38,932, according to numbers shared today by auto blogger @一路向北BYD.

Tesla vehicles saw 17,032 insurance registrations in China last week, higher than the previous week's 13,266.

NIO was 2,170 last week, down from 3,345 the week before.

Li Auto registered 4,243 units last week, up from 3,222 units the previous week.

XPeng was 1,635 units last week, up from 1,421 units the week before.

BYD's premium brand Denza vehicles saw 1,853 insurance registrations last week, up from 1,808 the week before.

Zeekr was 1,043 units last week, down from 1,814 units the week before.

BMW's NEVs registered 1,486 insurance units in China last week, down from 1,663 units the week before.

The past week has seen a rare price war in China's auto industry involving not only NEV makers, but traditional internal combustion engine automakers as well.

Rumors surfaced last week that BMW dealers were offering a massive subsidy for the all-electric BMW i3 in China, and that consumers who pay full price for the car can even get the model for RMB 120,000 to 180,000, less than half the retail price.

BMW insiders denied this, but sources at BMW dealers said they are indeed offering discounts, and that these measures were only introduced this month, local media Cailian reported last week.

For the BMW i3 eDrive35 L, which currently has a guide price of RMB 353,900, the price after discounts is RMB 248,000, the report said, citing BMW dealership sources.

Consumers will also receive an additional RMB 6,000 subsidy if they trade in their vehicles, the source said.

The increasing number of car companies joining the price war has led to increased consumer wait-and-see sentiment to avoid seeing price reductions shortly after purchasing a car.

Li Auto has introduced a consumer purchase price protection benefit that covers all of the company's currently available models -- Li L7, Li L8, Li L9.

For consumers who purchase these models, if the prices drops within 90 days of their order, then Li Auto will refund the difference.

The policy, which is available to consumers when they purchase the Li L7, Li L8, and Li L9, is primarily intended to make clear to them that Li Auto will not drop the prices, local media outlet The Paper said earlier today, citing salespeople from the company.

China NEV insurance registrations for week ending Mar 5: BYD 38,932, Tesla 13,266, NIO 3,345

Weekly NEV insurance registrations in China in 2023

Wk	BYD	Tesla	NIO	XPeng	Li Auto	BMW	Zeekr	Neta	Leapmotor	NEV	NEV+ICE
03/06-03/12	37,141	17,032	2,170	1,635	4,243	1,486	1,043	988
02/27-03/05	38,932	13,266	3,345	1,421	3,222	1,663	1,814	4,109	515	116,238	345,340
02/20-02/26	39,473	10,705	3,357	1,685	5,387	1,792	1,855	2,152	401	111,983	331,238
02/13-02/19	37,026	5,913	3,174	1,463	4,238	2,271	1,443	1,038	329	100,408	303,101
02/06-02/12	31,417	6,963	3,045	1,396	4,062	682	547	1,170	NA	85,572	280,741
01/30-02/05	24,280	8,643	1,948	975	2,240	593	554	3,964	114	69,692	267,843
01/23-01/29	5,280	3,356	427	210	990	NA	89	NA	NA	17,945	92,600
01/16-01/22	24,708	7,496	3,008	1,068	4,903	NA	657	NA	NA	67,500	330,400
01/09-01/15	40,420	12,654	2,963	1,817	4,527	2,687	1,359	420	237	99,041	438,000
01/02-01/08	35,924	2,110	2,818	1,551	3,704	2,103	1,511	238	80	77,000	290,000

The post China NEV insurance registrations for week ending Mar 12: BYD 37,141, Tesla 17,032, NIO 2,170 appeared first on CnEVPost.

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Tags BYD, Leapmotor, Li Auto, Neta, NIO, Tesla, XPeng, Zeekr

Car Launch China Electric Electric cars eMobility eV XPeng XPeng P7

Refreshed Xpeng P7i launched in China with 702km cruising range

Post author By Hillary Princewill
Post date March 10, 2023

Improved cruising range, LiDAR, and updated styling, China finally gets the refreshed P7.

The post Refreshed Xpeng P7i launched in China with 702km cruising range appeared first on CarNewsChina.com.

China Electric eMobility eV Product Launch Tesla XPeng XPeng P7i

XPeng P7i officially launched in China with starting price higher than Tesla Model 3

Post author By Phate Zhang/CnEVPost
Post date March 10, 2023

XPeng offers four versions of the P7i with a starting price of RMB 249,900, above the RMB 229,900 for the Tesla Model 3.

(Image credit: XPeng)

XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) today officially launched the P7i, a revamped version of its flagship sedan P7, in China in just four versions to avoid a repeat of the confusion caused by the flagship SUV G9's initial launch last September.

The company's WeChat post announcing the P7i's launch clearly lists the sedan's available variants and their corresponding prices, as well as the benefits the company is offering consumers.

The XPeng P7i is available in four versions -- 702 Pro, 702 Max, 610 Max Performance, and 610 Wing Edition -- with starting prices of RMB 249,900 ($35,890), RMB 269,900, RMB 289,900, and RMB 339,900, respectively.

This is higher than the Model 3 sedan's starting price of RMB 229,900 in China, although the Tesla model is only available in two versions in China, with the other version starting at RMB 329,900.

Consumers who reserve the XPeng P7i by April 30 will receive four years of free charging, up to 1,500 kWh per year, and they will also receive a free Dynaudio upgrade valued at RMB 6,000.

The model's show cars and vehicles for test drives are currently available at XPeng's experience centers, a tightly scheduled rhythm that differs from its previous approach.

The XPeng P7i will continue to be built on the regular 400 V platform, rather than the 800 V high-voltage platform used by the G9.

However, the P7i's maximum charging power has been increased from its predecessor's 90 kW to 175 kW, allowing it to charge from 10 percent to 80 percent in 29 minutes.

The Pro version of the XPeng P7i comes standard with one Nvidia Orin-X smart driving chip with 254 TOPS of computing power. The Max version of the model comes standard with two Orin-X chips as well as two LiDARs.

CnEVPost got an early look at the model at the end of January and learned from the event at the time that the P7i's LiDARs are set near the headlights as in the XPeng G9, and the supplier is RoboSense as in the G9.

The chip driving the in-car infotainment system in the XPeng P7i has been upgraded from the P7's Qualcomm Snapdragon 820A chip to the Snapdragon SA8155P.

The number in the model's name represents the CLTC range, which tops at 702 km.

The two versions of the XPeng P7i with a range of 702 kilometers are rear-drive single-motor, capable of accelerating from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 6.4 seconds. Its two versions with a range of 610 km are dual-motor four-wheel drive models and can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds.

For XPeng, the P7i will be the model that will be crucial to boosting sales.

The P7i's predecessor, the P7, was the XPeng's main seller for a long time, selling 59,066 units in 2022, contributing 49 percent of the XPeng's annual sales of 120,757 units, data monitored by CnEVPost show.

Notably, the XPeng P7i's launch comes at a delicate point in time, with Chinese car companies -- both internal combustion engine automakers and new energy vehicle (NEV) makers -- engaged in an unprecedented price war.

On January 6, Tesla sharply lowered the prices of all its China-made models in an attempt to boost demand for its electric vehicles in China, becoming the first automaker to publicly cut prices in the country.

On January 17, XPeng lowered the prices of all models except the G9, with the P7 receiving the largest price cut. After that, a number of other NEV makers also started to reduce prices or offer purchase discounts.

Prior to this month, it was mainly NEV makers that were openly offering price cuts and purchase incentives, but earlier this month, authorities in central China's Hubei province joined forces with a number of local car companies to offer subsidies, with some models offering subsidies of up to RMB 90,000.

BYD also announced yesterday that consumers who order the BYD Song Plus lineup from March 10 to March 31 will receive an RMB 6,800 discount, or RMB 8,800 for the Seal.

While these purchase offers appear to be temporary promotions by car companies, they reflect the overall pressure the Chinese auto industry is currently facing and are bound to allow the impact to be magnified as more brands participate.

($1 = RMB 6.9638)

Regulatory filing: Here's what XPeng G6 SUV looks like and core specs

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Tags BYD, Tesla, XPeng

China Electric Electric cars eMobility eV Report XPeng XPeng G6

XPeng G6 electric fastback SUV unveiled in China with 487 hp

Post author By Denis Bobylev
Post date March 9, 2023

The XPeng G6 was exposed by the Chinese MIIT in China. It has up to 487 hp. Let's get to know it better.

The post XPeng G6 electric fastback SUV unveiled in China with 487 hp appeared first on CarNewsChina.com.

China Electric eMobility eV Regulatory Filing Tesla XPeng XPeng G6

Regulatory filing: Here’s what XPeng G6 SUV looks like and core specs

Post author By Lei Kang/CnEVPost
Post date March 9, 2023

Previous reports suggested that the new XPeng new SUV would start at RMB 200,000-250,000 and is expected to be unveiled at this year's Shanghai auto show.

XPEV.US | 9868.HK

The latest regulatory filings reveal XPeng's (NYSE: XPEV) new SUV, which is expected to be released in a few months, as the electric vehicle (EV) maker looks to accelerate its new product launches this year.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) today announced the latest batch of models that will be allowed to be sold in China, and XPeng's new SUV, the G6, is included in the list.

The public can submit feedback on the list between March 9 and March 15. Entry into the catalog is the last major regulatory process before a model is allowed to be sold in China.

There are three versions of the XPeng G6 in the catalog, including two single-motor versions and one dual-motor version.

One of the two single-motor versions will be powered by a lithium iron phosphate battery pack, while the other single-motor version and the dual-motor version will both be powered by the more costly ternary lithium batteries.

The XPeng G6 has a length, width and height of 4,753 mm, 1,920 mm and 1,650 mm, respectively, and a wheelbase of 2,890 mm, according to these filing pages.

The model appears to be the one previously mentioned by XPeng management to compete with Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model Y, which measures 4,750 mm in length, 1,921 mm in width, 1,624 mm in height and has a wheelbase of 2,890 mm.

Both single-motor versions of the XPeng G6 are equipped with a motor with 218 kW peak power, while the dual-motor version has an additional 140 kW peak power motor.

All three versions of the XPeng G6 will be equipped with battery cells supplied by CATL's local competitor CALB, and the battery packs will be manufactured at XPeng's plant in Wuhan, Hubei.

XPeng management said during an earnings call on August 23, 2022 that the company will release a B-segment vehicle in the first half of 2023 that will compete with the Tesla Model Y.

The model was previously seen as possibly being named the G7 or G5, although spy photos shared by some local media last month showed that it will be called the G6.

XPeng chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng said in a January 28 internal all-staff letter that the company will release two new models and revamp three existing older models in 2023, with a goal of delivering 200,000 vehicles for the year, according to a previous report by LatePost.

That report said at the time that the new XPeng SUV would start at RMB 200,000 ($28,680)-250,000 and was expected to be unveiled at this year's Shanghai auto show.

XPeng's current models on sale include the G3i, P5, P7 and G9, and the company has officially unveiled the P7i, a facelift of the P7, on March 6, but not the price. Earlier today, a media report said that XPeng may officially let the P7i go on sale and announce the price on March 10.

($1 = RMB 6.9711)