After Nio issued the first ABS for carbon-neutral projects in China at the end of October last year, Xpeng also successfully used this instrument to obtain financing from the Chinese capital market.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

After Nio, Xpeng has also successfully issued an ABS (Asset-backed securities) of several hundred million RMB in the Chinese capital market, becoming the latest electric vehicle (EV) to obtain low-cost financing from its home market.

Xpeng's subsidiary, Guangzhou Xiaopeng Automotive Financing Lease Co Ltd, issued the ABS for carbon-neutral projects on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the company announced today.

This is Xpeng's first ABS issuance on the Chinese capital market and the first carbon-neutral auto leasing ABS on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the company said.

The ABS is RMB 775 million ($122 million) in size and has a maturity date of December 14, 2023.

The RMB 624 million senior A tranche ABS has a AAA debt rating, a coupon rate of 3.00 percent and a subscription multiple of 3.1 times.

The RMB31 million senior B tranche ABS has a debt rating of AA+, a coupon rate of 3.50 percent and a subscription multiple of 4.61 times.

"These coupon rates are a new low for finance lease ABS for new car makers, expanding our access to low-cost financing," Xpeng said.

Xpeng's local counterpart Nio announced on October 29 last year that Shanghai Nio Finance & Leasing Co had successfully issued a new energy vehicle (NEV) leasing ABS on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

It is also the first ABS for carbon-neutral projects in China, with a total size of RMB 1.03 billion and a maturity date of 2023.

The RMB 812 million senior A tranche ABS has a debt rating of AAA and a coupon rate of 3.64 percent. The RMB 48 million senior B tranche ABS has a debt rating of AA+ and a coupon rate of 4.20 percent.

Xpeng issued ABS of lower size than Nio's but with lower coupon rates, meaning lower financing costs.

Notably, their ABS have the same debt ratings and the lower coupon rate may be due to two consecutive benchmark rate cuts by China's central bank on December 20 last year as well as January 20.