Xpeng’s co-president, Brian Gu, expresses China’s self-confidence at the IAA Mobility car show in clear words: “The pace of development is a little slower here,” he says when looking at the development of the car industry in Europe. Motor shows also filled him with enthusiasm when looking at the transformation of the industry. The mood among German car managers was quite the opposite recently when they walked through the Shanghai auto show for the first time after the Covid years: “Even for me, who only deals with the car industry, there was the surprise that I I saw ten brands there that I hadn’t even known before,” said a top German manager in the automotive industry in a background interview a few days ago.
Xpeng represents this development: Founded in 2014 in Guangzhou, 2016 presentation of the first prototype, 2018 delivery of the first models, 2020 listed on the New York Stock Exchange, 2021 market entry in Norway. The model range now includes three electric cars, and the company is also present on the Swedish, Danish and Dutch markets. The market launch in Germany is planned for this year, with a mid-size SUV and a hatchback mid-size sedan.