XPeng announces new "AI-defined" global brand targeting $15,000 EVs

20 March 2024

Brands focused on affordability, or even mere models with the same mantra, have traditionally been "youth-oriented" in China for whatever reason, at least in the mobile world, and apparently it's the same with cars.

Today XPeng has announced its intention to create a new car brand which aims to offer "the first AI-driven smart cars for young people", with models priced between CNY 100,000 and CNY 150,000 (that's about $15,000 to $23,000 at the current exchange rates).

This will be a global brand, but of course it will launch in China first, seeing as how XPeng is Chinese. The first car from the new brand, the silhouette of which we can see above, will hit the aforementioned price range and will be an "A-class" EV.

This price range has "long been the mainstream choice for Chinese consumers", with "over 8 million cars sold every year", XPeng says in its official press release. Thus, there's "abundant market demand" here and "strong development potential". This range accounted for 34% of the Chinese market last year, up from 31% in 2022.

And yet, "there are few products in this market segment that offer smart driving functions, let alone AI-driven smart driving", XPeng notes. In the future, the new brand will "continue to introduce multiple models with different levels of intelligent driving capabilities", "providing users with the best intelligent driving experience in its class".

What even is an "AI-defined" or "AI-driven" car? Something with "L2-level-and-above ADAS capabilities", according to XPeng. What does AI have to do with that? Well, it's the buzzword of the year, so it has to be included into everything, doesn't it? For what it's worth, in the second quarter of this year, XPeng plans to "deploy AI large models on cars, offering the first mass-produced AI and vehicle cognitive assistant in the automotive industry", whatever that means.

XPeng boasts that as of February, its XNGP ADAS for urban driving makes it "the industry leader in terms of active users, user experience, and penetration rate of urban smart driving mileage". To keep its position, the company plans to invest CNY 3.5 billion ($486,000,000) in R&D and recruit 4,000 new employees.