The exterior of the G9 2024 will have green, black, gray, white, and silver options, and the first show cars are already available at its stores.

(Image credit: Xpeng)

Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) today unexpectedly unveiled a facelift for its flagship SUV, the G9, earlier than a company executive had previously hinted.

The Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker unveiled the new 2024 model of the G9 on its social media platforms today, saying that the first show cars are already available at its stores.

The exterior of the Xpeng G9 2024 will have green, black, gray, white, and silver options, the company's release today showed.

Xpeng didn't release any more information about the new G9, including whether there will be any changes to the interior or pricing.

Xpeng launched the G9 on September 21, 2022, with a starting price of RMB 309,900 ($42,340) for the previously on-sale model, which is based on a 800 V high-voltage platform.

The pricing was seen as competitive, but the G9's confusing configuration at launch sparked many dissatisfactions that overshadowed its appeal.

Two days after the G9's launch, Xpeng overhauled the G9's options to make it less difficult for customers to choose.

On August 20, Gu Jie, Xpeng's senior director of powertrain, hinted in a Weibo post that the company would launch a facelifted version of the G9 in the fourth quarter.

The G9 delivered a record 4,020 units in December 2022, contributing 35.6 percent of Xpeng's 11,292 deliveries for the month, data monitored by CnEVPost showed.

The model has seen a significant drop in deliveries this year, with volumes around 1,000 units in every month except January, when 2,249 were delivered, and 872 in July.

Xpeng delivered 13,690 vehicles in August, its highest since 15,295 in June 2022, data it released on September 1 showed.

Deliveries of its cheaper SUV, the G6, reached 7,068 vehicles in August, contributing 51.63 percent of Xpeng's sales last month, according to information released by the company. Deliveries of the G9 in August are not yet available.

On July 26, Volkswagen announced that it would invest about $700 million in Xpeng, acquiring about 4.99 percent of the latter.

In the initial phase of the partnership, the two companies plan to jointly develop two Volkswagen-branded electric models based on the Xpeng G9 for China's mid-size car market.

($1 = RMB 7.3193)

XPeng G9's configuration confusion overshadows product appeal, says Deutsche Bank