XPeng Inc. XPEV recently exported the first shipment of its flagship electric sedan — P7 — to Norway. The P7 models have been shipped from the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou to Norway, marking the first time that XPeng has shipped its flagship sedan to an international market.
This move comes in eight months after the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker shipped its G3 SUVs to Norway in December, expanding beyond the home market for the first time. This makes P7 the company’s second product to be offered in Norway. The automaker anticipates commencing the sales of the P7 models to customers in Norway from the fourth quarter this year.
XPeng also plans to establish a full-scale operation in Norway, which includes customer experience, sales, delivery, after-sales services and charging facilities.
Norway is an attractive market for selling EVs. The Norwegian government plans to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2025, and has given incentives in recent years to encourage an electric-car boom. Reportedly, in 2020, about 54% of new cars sold in Norway were electrified. Also, with nearly 85% of new car sales in July 2021 being electric, the demand for e-mobility is surging in the nation. Though the Norwegian auto market isn’t very big, Norwegian EV buyers are possibly the most sophisticated compared with other EV buyers across the globe. This makes Norway an ideal market to infiltrate among the EV bulls.
Other Chinese EV makers like NIO Inc. NIO and Li Auto LI are also seeking international expansion, with Norway being the key market. In fact, NIO is already exporting its ES8 electric SUV to Norway and anticipates commencing sales soon. Norway is also one of the leading markets for U.S.-based EV behemoth Tesla TSLA.
The latest news marks the achievement of another milestone for the XPeng’s global business. However, it further intensifies competition among EV makers aiming to capture a niche in the Norwegian EV space. The news shows heightened competition not only among Chinese EV makers but also non-Chinese auto makers, like Volkswagen and Tesla.
XPeng — The Rising Star of China’s EV Market
Guangzhou-based XPeng, backed by Alibaba Group and Hillhouse Capital Management, is a leading Chinese smart EV company that designs, develops, manufactures, and markets Smart EVs catering the large and growing base of technology-savvy middle-income consumers in China.
Though XPeng is nowhere near the EV giant Tesla, it has managed to garner a lot of investors’ attention like its other Chinese peers.
The company started its second manufacturing base in Guangzhou last November, making it the first Chinese start-up EV maker with two self-owned factories. Moreover, the EV maker has expanded its XPeng-branded supercharging stations, which includes 19,019 free charging and supercharging piles in 1,140 charging stations, across 164 Chinese cities.
With competition in the auto space heating up, the company has been boosting production capacity for its range of models — the G3 SUV, the P7 sedan and the recently-launched P5. This month, XPeng disclosed plans to double its production capacity at the Zhaoqing Base from 100,000 units to 200,000 units per annum. The expansion will position XPeng well in capturing the anticipated soaring consumer demand for its smart EVs. Earlier this year, XPeng announced a joint effort with the city of Wuhan to build a new manufacturing base there.
In July, XPeng delivered 8,040 vehicles, setting a monthly record with a whopping 228% increase year on year. The company is scheduled to report its second-quarter 2021 earnings on Aug 26.
XPeng currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
NIO Inc. (NIO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Li Auto Inc. Sponsored ADR (LI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
XPeng Inc. Sponsored ADR (XPEV) : Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research