- The top-trim Ultra Flagship versions account for over 80% of Xpeng GX's initial orders.
- Analysts expect the GX SUV to reach monthly sales of 5,000 units, driven by its highly competitive size and technology.
Xpeng's (NYSE: XPEV) latest flagship model is off to a strong start.
The Chinese EV maker's new GX sport utility vehicle (SUV) garnered 24,863 firm orders within the first 12 hours of its launch, according to figures it shared Thursday on Weibo.
The robust initial demand indicates that Xpeng's aggressive pricing strategy for the model is yielding the desired results.
The top-tier Ultra Flagship trims accounted for more than 80% of the initial orders for the GX, Xpeng's chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng said on Weibo.
The large six-seater SUV, which offers both battery electric vehicle (BEV) and extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) options, has a limited-time starting price of 269,800 yuan ($39,720).
This actual entry price is significantly lower than the pre-sales price of 399,800 yuan announced a month ago, which was on par with the 406,800 yuan price tag of Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) main brand's flagship ES8 SUV.
However, its final actual pricing is comparable that that of Nio's mass-market sub-brand Onvo and its three-row electric SUV, the L90, which starts at 265,800 yuan.
This pricing strategy highlights Xpeng's ambition to capture a larger share of the mid-to-high-end family user market.
Built to L4 autonomous driving standards, the GX adopts a flexible computing power allocation strategy. Depending on the version, the model is equipped with one to three Turing AI chips developed in-house by Xpeng.
The highest-spec version boasts 2,250 TOPS of computing power for smart driving, supporting a LiDAR-free, pure-vision autonomous driving solution.
In addition to its push in the domestic Chinese market, Xpeng also plans to launch the GX SUV in the Middle East soon.
The GX SUV is expected to achieve monthly sales of 5,000 units, driven by its highly competitive size and technology, a team led by Deutsche Bank analyst Wang Bin said in a research note on Thursday.
The new vehicle is one of Xpeng's key initiatives to boost sales this year.
Between January and April this year, Xpeng delivered 93,693 vehicles, down 27.40% from the same period last year.
($1 = 6.7921 yuan)
