(Source: Weibo)
Xpeng Motors is one of the strongest Chinese companies in autonomous driving technology, and to strengthen that position, the company is continuing to increase its talent pool.
On May 6, Xpeng Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng announced on Weibo the official opening of the company's Shenzhen R&D center, signaling that it is about to increase its competition for talent in the electric vehicle industry.
"We will strive to expand our Shenzhen R&D staff to over 500 in the next 12 months and welcome anyone interested to join or recommend candidates to us," He said.
The move comes as Xpeng has registered two companies in Shenzhen, a first-tier city in southern China, to pave the way for the expansion of its operations.
On Feb. 24, Shenzhen Xpeng Motors Technology Co. was established with a registered capital of 50 million yuan. The company's business scope includes artificial intelligence application software development, intelligent control system integration, automotive engineering and technology research, and information technology consulting services.
On April 8, Shenzhen Zhipeng Auto Sales & Service Co., Ltd. was established with a registered capital of RMB 5 million. The company's business scope includes sales of new energy vehicles, sales of electric accessories for new energy vehicles, sales of battery swap facilities for new energy vehicles, and distribution of used vehicles.
With the opening of Xpeng Shenzhen R&D center, the company will join the increasingly fierce battle for talent in China's electric vehicle industry.
The number of job openings at electric vehicle companies, including Nio, Li Auto, Xpeng Motors, and Tesla China, has continued to climb so far this year.
According to a report released by job site Boss Zhipin at the end of April, demand for positions in self-driving R&D, smart cockpit design, software engineers, sales, and user operations has increased more than 1.8 times year-on-year.
For autonomous driving-related positions, the minimum monthly salary offered by these companies is RMB 25,000 ($3,860). Among them, Xpeng's senior engineers for autonomous driving vision algorithms and senior experts for autonomous driving software are paid as much as RMB 600,000-800,000 per year, the report said.
Late last month, Li Auto's Shanghai R&D headquarters building was completed and began welcoming employees into the building, which can accommodate 2,000 people in offices.
"Welcome technical experts to join Li Auto, and I'll see you in Shanghai," said Li Xiang, founder, and CEO of Li Auto.
In unveiling its Norway strategy on Thursday, Nio revealed that the company's full-time workforce has grown to more than 9,000, but still hasn't reached its peak in 2019 when it was close to 10,000.
Nio is spending money on R&D a little slower than expected and hopes to spend RMB 5 billion on that this year, according to William Li, Nio's founder, chairman, and CEO.
