(Photo source: CnEVPost)

Chinese electric vehicle company Xpeng Motors on Tuesday began sending the first shipment of its flagship P7 sedan from its headquarters in Guangzhou to Norway, marking a major step in the company's expansion into international markets.

This is the first time the Xpeng P7 has been exported outside of China, which the company says reinforces its long-term commitment to building its international market presence, according to a press release sent to CnEVPost.

(Photo source: Xpeng)

The P7 model, localized for the Norwegian market, rolled off the production line at Xpeng's plant in Zhaoqing, Guangdong province, in August, and the first Norwegian customers are expected to receive deliveries in the fourth quarter, the company said.

Xpeng did not say how many P7 cars it is sending to Norway.

The company is also accelerating the momentum of its build-out in Norway, establishing a full-scale Norwegian operation that encompasses customer experience, sales, delivery, service, charging and lifestyle facilities, Xpeng said.

This confirms our previous speculation.

CnEVPost mentioned earlier this month that Xpeng posted an ad on LinkedIn for a Store Manager for its Norwegian team, a position that would involve working with the team to complete store preparations and head up the store's sales, delivery, and after-sales departments, suggesting it could build a direct store there.

Xpeng previously adopted a relatively cautious strategy when entering the Norwegian market, partnering with dealers including Zero Emission Mobility AS (ZEM) to carry out marketing and after-sales services to local consumers.

Xpeng marked the beginning of its expansion into overseas markets when it exported its first vehicles to Norway last September. Building its own business team means it may have bigger ambitions in Norway.

"While China remains its base and core market, Xpeng is committed to developing international markets with a long-term perspective. The rollout of the P7 in Norway represents the next logical step in this strategy, and vindicates its progress to date in developing its presence outside China," the company said.

The rollout of P7 in Norway also demonstrates Xpeng's leadership in smart EV penetration into global markets, backed by its robust financial foundations with dual listings in the US and Hong Kong, and its full-stack in-house-developed R&D capability, it said.

"We are dedicated to meeting the growing customer demand for our smart EVs in China and internationally by bringing the most sophisticated and stylish models to our customers," said He Xiaopeng, Chairman and CEO of Xpeng, adding, "We are eager to bring these advanced capabilities and services to our international customers in highly localized forms."

The P7 for the Norwegian market received European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval (WVTA) earlier this year and is available in 4-Wheel Drive (4WD) High Performance and Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) Super Long Range versions.

Equipped with an 80-kWh battery pack, the Norwegian P7 delivers a range of up to 530km (RWD) WLTP, the company said.

Norway has the highest level of electric vehicle penetration in the world, with plug-in electric vehicles accounting for 84.7 percent of new auto sales in July 2021 - 64.1 percent of them battery-powered electrics (BEVs), and 20.6 percent plugin hybrids (PHEVs).

From June 2020, Xpeng started selling the G3i model with an NEDC range of 520km in Norway.

On September 24, 2020, 100 units of the SUV G3i were shipped to Norway.

On Monday, Xpeng saw its 50,000th P7 sedan roll off the line, 496 days after the model launched mass deliveries last July.

"This means that Xpeng's Zhaoqing manufacturing site is more mature in terms of quality and we are able to quickly achieve production and delivery of each P7," the company said.

Xpeng delivered 8,040 vehicles in July, its highest monthly delivery record, up 228 percent year-over-year and up 22 percent from June.

The P7 delivered 6,054 units in July, the highest monthly delivery record since its launch, Xpeng data released on August 2 showed.

Since its launch in July 2020 to the end of July, the P7 has delivered a cumulative total of 40,612 units.

(Photo source: Xpeng)