Xpeng has announced its most expensive car to date. Pictured at a store in Shanghai, China, in July 2021 are two of Xpeng’s previously released models, a green P7 Wing Limited Edition and a blue G3 SUV .
Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | beautiful pictures
BEIJING – China’s electric car start-up Xpeng released its most expensive car to date, marking the company’s foray into a higher price range.
Shares of the automaker fell more than 15% in Thursday trading in Hong Kong.
On Wednesday night, Xpeng announced its newest vehicle, the G9 SUV, will be priced from 309,900 yuan ($44,270) to 469,000 yuan. The company says it will start shipping in China in October.
The price range makes Xpeng’s newest vehicle generally cheaper than this fall’s new SUV offerings from Nio and Li Auto. Nio’s ES7 sells for 468,000 yuan to 548,000 yuan, while Li 9’s Li Auto lists a price of 459,800 yuan.
G9 is also cheaper TeslaThe Model Y, a mid-size SUV, starts at 316,900 yuan.
However, previous Xpeng cars have been priced much lower.
The company’s best-selling to date, the P7 sedan, is priced from 239,900 yuan to 387,900 yuan depending on the driving range. The company’s other sedan, the P5, can be purchased for as low as 179,900 yuan.
Xpeng’s original SUV, currently only offered as an upgraded model called G3i, is priced from 181,900 yuan to 201,900 yuan.
For comparison, in the sedan category, the Nio is sold for 328,000 yuan to 536,000 yuan. Tesla’s Model 3 starts at 279,900 yuan, after subsidies.
BYD, the local leader that dominates China’s electric car market, sells for an even lower price. The company’s popular Han sedan is priced from 214,800 yuan, after subsidies, to 329,800 yuan.
In total, BYD’s Qin, Han and Dolphin vehicles have entered the top five best-selling new energy passenger vehicles in China in the first eight months of the year, according to the China Tourist Vehicle Association. That list does not include SUVs.
The association’s data shows Tesla’s Model 3 in sixth place, while Xpeng’s P7 ranks 10th.
One of the attractions of Xpeng is its driver assistance software. This week, the company announced that it is release the latest version of the software – covers off-highway urban situations – for some users in the city of Guangzhou, southern China.
In addition to driver assistance software, the G9 also features quick battery charging and what Xpeng calls an “immersive 5D experience” in the car for watching movies and listening to music. The company claims that after revealing the in-car experience in August, it received more than 20,000 pre-orders for the G9 in the first 24 hours of pre-orders.
“We are very confident that this G9 will be a very popular SUV in its segment,” said Brian Gu, president and honorary vice president of Xpeng, said in an interview with CNBC by Eunice Yoon this week.
“We think next year’s G9 numbers will exceed what we’ve achieved with the P7, which makes it one of our best-selling vehicles,” he said.
