(Source: China Auto Bluebook Forum)
The average sales price of Xpeng Motors has exceeded 250,000 yuan ($39,000) this year, a result of the brand's positioning, according to He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of the Chinese electric vehicle company.
He revealed the figure in a speech at the recent China Auto Bluebook Forum, saying that three of China's top 10 electric vehicle brands currently sell for more than 250,000 yuan, including Tesla and Xpeng.
The latest data from the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) showed that Xpeng's local peer Nio's average sales price in May was RMB 432,900, higher than BMW's RMB 391,000 and slightly lower than Mercedes-Benz's RMB 435,600.
Tesla's average vehicle price in May was RMB 30,300, slightly lower than Audi's RMB 322,000.
He noted that five of the top 10 electric vehicle brands in China have smart electric vehicles priced below RMB 100,000.
He considered these lower-priced models to be electric cars and do not count as smart cars. "In the smart car segment, if the price is below RMB 150,000, the smart part is not going to do well," he said.
He said a company that really wants to get the smart part right needs to price its main model between RMB 200,000 and RMB 300,000 in the next two to three years.
The cost of smart driving, especially in terms of high-level automatic assisted driving, will even increase, he said, adding that people can judge whether a car has smart features simply by its price.
"Even in 2025, a company that wants to make a gross profit on a smart electric car will have a minimum selling price of RMB 150,000 yuan," he said.
He said it is unlikely that a company will be able to sell a profitable smart EV for less than RMB 100,000 before 2025, with RMB 150,000 being the entry price.
Xpeng is marketed at the mid-to-high-end of the RMB 150,000-400,000 market, and the company's focus is on quality, not quantity, he said.
Xpeng delivered 5,686 units in May, a 483 percent jump from the same month last year and a 10.47 percent increase from April.
Xpeng delivered 3,797 P7 sedans in May, the highest monthly delivery record since mass deliveries in July 2020.
This was driven by the launch of the lower-priced P7 with lithium iron phosphate batteries.
Xpeng said the P7 with lithium iron phosphate batteries has seen strong demand since its launch in March. Deliveries of the model began in May, with deliveries for the month up 27 percent from April.
