Chinese EV maker XPeng hunts for new markets to escape reliance on weaker China
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Xpeng trails behind market leaders such as BYD and Tesla in overseas markets, including Australia.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
- XPeng is expanding its electric vehicle sales overseas, targeting markets like Australia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Korea to reduce reliance on China's slowing domestic market.
- The company plans to launch five new EV models in Australia within six months and may produce cars locally in some countries to avoid import tariffs.
- Despite losses since 2014, XPeng offsets tech investments with profitable overseas sales and is in talks to expand manufacturing in Europe, aiming for 50 per cent of sales from abroad within five years.
AI generated
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker XPeng is rolling out more models overseas and scouting for new markets from South America to Asia as demand in China’s domestic electric vehicle market continues to slow.
The international acceleration includes ramping up in Australia, where XPeng plans to offer five new EVs in the next six months.
The Guangzhou-based company has struggled to break into the Australian market since the company’s G6 sport utility vehicle went on sale there in late 2024, and trails market leaders BYD and Tesla.
In an interview in Melbourne on July 21, XPeng vice-chairman and president Brian Gu said untapped markets such as Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Korea could help the company lift the proportion of car sales overseas to 50 per cent within five years, from 20 per cent currently.
In some new countries, XPeng may have to produce cars locally to avoid import tariffs, Gu said.
“We need to have a customised approach,” he said. “We have not fully entered a lot of large markets yet.”
XPeng’s offshore blitz is designed to find faster-growing markets outside China, as well as shore up the company’s bottom line.
Founded in 2014, XPeng has posted at least seven consecutive annual losses.
It is also funnelling money into robotics and flying cars.
According to Gu, XPeng’s profitable sales of electric cars overseas partly offset the cost of those technology investments.
XPeng listed in New York in 2020 and in Hong Kong in 2021.
The stock has tumbled 35 per cent in 2026, leaving the company with a market value of about HK$100 billion (S$16.48 billion).
China’s passenger car market contracted again in June, with data showing a widening split between domestic demand and surging overseas shipments.
XPeng said earlier in July it was in talks with potential partners to expand its manufacturing operations in Europe.
In Australia, XPeng’s bolstered line-up will include the seven-seat X9 and the new L03 compact SUV.
The company remains a minnow in the Australian EV market, where it sold just 24 cars in June, according to sales data tracked by news site The Driven.
In the same period, BYD sold 10,174 cars, the site shows. BLOOMBERG
