- Xpeng's new Chinese name highlights its status as a group as it doubles down on physical AI and robotics.
- Xpeng's English name, Xpeng Inc, will remain unchanged.
Xpeng announced a change to its corporate Chinese name as its business expands beyond electric vehicles (EVs) into more areas.
The Chinese EV maker will change its Chinese name from "小鹏汽车有限公司" (literally Xpeng Motors Co Ltd) to "小鹏集团" (literally Xpeng Group) effective April 1, 2026, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing on Friday.
The company's English name, Xpeng Inc, will remain unchanged. The stock short name in Chinese for its class A ordinary shares traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will also be changed to "小鹏集团-W".
The Chinese name change drops the word "Motors," signaling a strategic shift for the company beyond its EV business.
Xpeng's announcement did not provide further details, but in the title of a WeChat post, the company said that this marks the "beginning of a new journey in physical AI."
Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng recently said that the company is currently at a historic turning point for physical AI applications.
Xpeng plans to expand the global market share of its AI cars and complete the technological leap from L2+ assisted driving to L4 autonomous driving, its management said during an earnings call earlier this month.
In addition to bringing its second-generation VLA large language model to overseas markets, the company also aims to achieve mass production of advanced humanoid robots.
It plans to mass-produce the new generation Iron humanoid robot by the end of 2026, targeting a monthly production capacity of thousands of units by year-end.
Mr. He believes that within the next 5 to 10 years, global robotaxis and humanoid robots will both become trillion-yuan markets.
To drive its business expansion, Xpeng plans to significantly increase its research and development investment in physical AI to 7 billion yuan this year.
The company is also developing its own chips. Cumulative shipments of its Turing AI chip have exceeded 200,000 units, and the full-year shipment target for this year is about 1 million units.
The company recently established a new robotaxi business department to accelerate the commercialization of its autonomous driving technology.
Furthermore, the company has ventured into the flying car business. Aridge, a technology unit majority-owned by Xpeng and Mr. He, aims to begin mass production of flying cars within the year.
