Xpeng looks to manufacture EVs in Europe
As Xpeng’s CEO, He Xiaopeng told Bloomberg, Xpeng is in the initial phase of selecting a production site in the EU and is also planning to set up a large data centre in Europe. While it is unclear where exactly the company is looking to set up shop, He Xiaopeng stated that the company is looking at areas featuring “relatively low labour risks.”
One of the main undertakings will be the data centre, “as efficient software collection becomes paramount for cars’ intelligent driving features.” According to the Bloomberg report, “Xpeng also sees its expertise in artificial intelligence and advanced assisted driving features as helping it make inroads into Europe.”
“Selling a million AI-powered cars per year will be a prerequisite for the companies that finally emerge as the winners in the next 10 years, in which the human driver will maybe touch the steering wheel less than once per day on average on their daily commute,” He said. “We are going to see companies rolling out such products from 2025, and Xpeng will be among them.” Just last month, Xpeng announced plans for an autonomous taxi to launch in 2026.
Circumventing EU import tariffs
Xpeng is not the first Chinese automobile manufacturer to set up a manufacturing footprint in Europe, as BYD, Chery and Zeekr all have a factory in the continent, which they hope will minimize the effects of the increased import tariffs for Chinese manufacturers. Other manufacturers, such as SAIC’s MG Motor, are looking to find other loopholes, in MG’s case exporting its vehicles from a factory in Thailand, which would face different tariffs.
The ongoing production agreement with Volkswagen will likely also help its production in Europe, as the two companies have extended their technical cooperation agreement to the E/E architecture, meaning both companies could use the same suppliers. In fact, the two companies are currently putting in major efforts to have their engineers learn from each other. In an interview with CNBC, Xpeng’s co-president Brian Gu said that hundreds of Volkswagen staff are spending time at Xpeng, as the companies work to create electric cars for the Chinese market. While VW did not comment on the interview, Gu stated that the German engineers were spending a lot of time at the startup’s offices.
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