Xpeng will launch a new brand in the next month, targeting markets priced between RMB 100,000 and RMB 150,000, the company's CEO said.
(Image credit: Xpeng)
Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) will launch a new brand within the coming month, targeting a market with prices ranging from RMB 100,000 ($13,900) to RMB 150,000, the company's chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng said today.
He revealed the plan during a presentation at the China EV100 Forum in Beijing today, saying the new brand's models will be aimed at the global market.
The company will bring its high-level intelligent driving and even future autonomous driving capabilities to the new brand and be able to make a profit, he said.
Xpeng will be the first Chinese automaker to bring its high-level intelligent driving capabilities to the RMB 100,000-150,000 A-class car market, he added.
He didn't offer much more on the new brand, but shared an image showing that its first model will be a sedan.
Xpeng's current models on sale include the P5, P7, P7i, G6, G9, and X9, which are mainly aimed at the price range of RMB 200,000 to 300,000 yuan.
The company's upcoming new brand is supposedly codenamed Mona, although He didn't directly mention it today.
Xpeng signed an agreement with ride-hailing giant Didi Global on August 27, 2023, to acquire the latter's smart car development business assets.
Xpeng plans to launch a new electric vehicle brand in 2024 under the project name Mona, which will be used to tap into the mass market segment in the RMB 150,000 price point, the company said at the time.
The first model in the Mona project will be an A-class smart EV model to be launched in 2024. The new model and brand will be differentiated from the Xpeng-branded products and the main brand, it said last year.
Didi will provide mobility ecosystem support for the Mona project and enter the shared mobility market, and will pave the way for Xpeng to build a mass-market RMB 150,000 price segment smart EV models, according to Xpeng's statement last year.
The two have established performance incentives based on the mass production of Mona and sales targets accomplished by Didi, who will be entitled to equity incentives.
If Mona achieves annual sales of 180,000 units for two consecutive years, then Didi could receive the highest incentive for a total of 5 percent of Xpeng's equity, the EV maker said last year.
The Mona project will be the start of a second, or even third, brand for Xpeng, which will be predominantly for consumers but also for corporate customers, He said in a communication session after the deal with Didi was announced.
The Mona project will launch two new models by the end of 2024, priced at around RMB 150,000, with the technology base coming from Didi's car-making program, a report by local media outlet Yicai on August 28 last year said, citing a person familiar with the matter.
In today's speech, He also said that Xpeng will invest RMB 3.5 billion in smart driving R&D this year and recruit 4,000 new talent.
In the second quarter, Xpeng will start bringing the AI large model to vehicles, which will be the automotive industry's first mass-production-ready in-vehicle AI and in-vehicle cognitive engine, he said.
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