Industry dynamics

Xpeng to launch 3 models in 2023, report says

Publishtime:1970-01-01 08:00:00 Views:22

They will be a facelift of the hot-selling sedan P7, an SUV with the internal code name F30 and an MPV with the internal code name H93, local media said.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) will launch significantly more models next year, after it offered only one new model, the G9, this year.

The electric vehicle (EV) maker plans to launch three new models in 2023, a facelift of its hot-selling sedan P7, an SUV with internal code name F30 and an MPV with internal code name H93, local media Jiemian reported today.

The three models will come from Xpeng's E, F and H platforms respectively after the organizational restructuring in November, of which the facelifted P7 has already appeared on a regulatory filing list, the report noted.

The F30 is a coupe SUV from the F platform, which relates to the company's flagship SUV, the G9, like Porsche's Macan and Cayenne, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

MPVs are another segment sought after by Chinese automakers in 2022, a market that sells around 1 million units a year, the report said.

Xpeng hopes to use the MPV model to further increase the average selling price of the vehicles and make the brand more premium, according to the report.

However, there are different voices within Xpeng about the launch of the MPV model, as the market is not large and would result in the company facing too long a battlefront.

There are concerns within Xpeng that the G9 hasn't fully proven Xpeng's mastery of higher-priced models, a source said.

Xpeng chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng believes the EV market will grow at a slower pace in 2023 than in 2022, but that the era that truly belongs to smart cars will arrive in the second half of 2023 and gradually expand, the Jiemian report said.

Xpeng will use these three platforms as the basis to enrich its product matrix and enhance product competitiveness in 2023, the report said.

In a conference call with analysts after announcing its third-quarter earnings on November 30, Xpeng management said the company has three platforms, including the completed E platform, and the third-generation F and H platforms scheduled for completion next year, laying the technical foundation for product upgrades and iterations.

Xpeng will launch a facelift of the P7 sedan and a B-segment SUV priced at RMB 200,000-300,000 in the first half of next year, the company said last month, adding that the facelifted P7 will be more competitive across the board and take on the technological advantages of the G9.

In another conference call in late August, Xpeng mentioned that the company will also launch a C-segment vehicle in the second half of next year to bring an ultimate experience to a customer base that needs more space and comfort.

In March, Shanghai-listed Bomin Electronics (SHA: 603936) said in an announcement that its Shenzhen subsidiary had become a parts supplier for Xpeng's F30 model as well as the E38.

The model is now widely seen as a possible new SUV to be called the G7. The E38 model is the G9.

Earlier this month, a spy video showed that Xpeng may be testing an MPV codenamed H93, which is expected to be released in the second half of 2023.

On November 17, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released a list of models that will soon be allowed to be sold in China, showing what the new Xpeng P7 will look like.

The new P7 doesn't look much different from the current model, with the most significant change being the availability of the LiDAR option, which is expected to give the model enhanced assisted driving capabilities.

Xpeng has only one new model, the G9, on the market this year and is still in the production capacity ramp-up phase. The model was unveiled at the Guangzhou auto show in November last year, and its official launch was on September 21 this year.

Xpeng has faced weak demand since the second half of this year, resulting in deliveries in the past few months being much lower than the same period last year.

The company delivered 5,811 vehicles in November, down 62.8 percent from 15,613 units in the same month last year, despite a 14 percent increase from 5,101 units in October.

In the January-November period, Xpeng delivered 109,465 vehicles, up 33.2 percent from 82,155 vehicles in the same period last year.

The guidance Xpeng gave in its third-quarter earnings report on November 30 for fourth-quarter deliveries was 20,000 to 21,000 vehicles, meaning the company expects to deliver about 10,000 units in December.