XPeng Motors today began shipping its first batch of the brand's flagship model XPeng P7 long-range smart sedan, from Guangzhou, China, to Norway. This marks the first time that XPeng has exported the P7 to a market outside China, and is another major step in the company’s development.
The move reinforces XPeng's long-term goals of building its international market presence and becoming a truly global automaker. The P7 is XPeng’s second production model for the Norwegian market, following the G3 compact SUV to customers in Norway in December 2020.
“We are dedicated to meeting the growing customer demand for our smart EVs in China and internationally by bringing the most sophisticated and stylish models to our customers,” said Mr. He Xiaopeng, Chairman and CEO of XPeng. “We are seeing smart EVs not only redefining driver experience with their innovative functions and differentiated services but also offering the potential to fundamentally transform mobility behavior. We are eager to bring these advanced capabilities and services to our international customers in highly localized forms,” Mr. He said.
The P7’s advanced driver's assist systems, high performance, and sleek styling have already attracted an enthusiastic reception in China, where over 40,000 P7's have been delivered to customers since its launch in mid-2020.
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The Norwegian version of the P7 rolled off XPeng’s production line at its Zhaoqing manufacturing plant in August. The first Norwegian customers are expected to receive their P7s in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Concurrently, XPeng is accelerating the momentum of its build-out in Norway, establishing a full-scale Norwegian operation that encompasses customer experience, sales, delivery, service, charging, and lifestyle facilities.
Gallery: Xpeng P7
XPeng's rise from obscurity has been pretty amazing. The automaker has only been selling cars since December of 2018 when the first G3s were delivered to customers. The company then launched the P7 in mid-2020 and is about to launch its 3rd vehicle, the P5 smart-family sedan in a few months.
XPeng also built and opened a factory in Zhaoqing and has manufacturing plants in Wuhan and Guangzhao under construction. Once all three plants are operational, it's estimated that XPeng will have the ability to produce 400,000 to 500,000 cars per year.
US Bound?
Could the US be next? I don't think it's any secret that XPeng would love to enter the US market, but I don't think that will happen in the immediate future. It's reasonable to assume the company will concentrate on European expansion before setting its sights on North America. Currently, there are still those onerous import tariffs in the US to deal with, making the vehicles much less competitively priced. Just ask Polestar about that.