Xpeng to Launch Budget Sub-Brand in China

Chinese battery-electric-vehicle maker Xpeng announces its price-war strategy to launch a budget brand as soon as this month.

Reuters reports that the sub-brand’s new vehicles will be marketed with a domestic market sticker price of RMB 100,000 to RMB 150,000 ($14,000-$21,000). This is about half the starting price range where Chinese premium brands are usually pitched.

The company’s chairman and CEO, He Xiaopeng, unveiled the strategy at an industry event in Beijing over the weekend and the news also was posted on its official WeChat account. Both BYD and Tesla have been waging a price-cutting battle for greater market share in China at a time when sales of BEVs in the country slowed to 18.2% in the first two months of the year from 20.8% for all of 2023, according to the China Passenger Car Assn.

Xpeng says it plans to introduce models under the budget brand, which it has yet to name, each with varying levels of driver-assistance technologies. It adds the brand is dedicated to creating “the first AI-assisted driving car for young people.”