Xpeng Motors plans to build electric vehicles (EVs) in Europe, avoiding the European Commission's import taxes on Chinese-made EVs.
Xpeng Motors CEO He Xiaopeng told Bloomberg that the company is currently in the early stages of selecting locations in Europe for its EV production, adding that the automaker is looking for places with low labor risks.
He said the EU Commission's new tariffs on Chinese-made EV imports will not have a significant impact on Xpeng's global expansion plans, but the EU tariffs will impact Xpeng's profits in some European countries.
The EU tariff on Xpeng's Chinese-made EV imports is 21.3%. The company would have to pay this 21.3% plus the EU's current import tariff of 10%, so local production in Europe would be more advantageous from a profitability perspective.
The Chinese automaker is likely to get some help from its European partner Volkswagen. Xpeng and VW partnered to develop an E/E architecture for vehicles built locally in China. Xpeng's CEO said the partnership with Volkswagen helped it navigate a complex supply chain. VW's support helped Xpeng increase its second-quarter gross margin to 14% from -3.9% a year ago.
In addition to building an EV factory, Xpeng is also planning to set up large data centers in Europe and potentially introduce advanced driver assistance features to cars sold there.
“Selling 1 million AI-enabled cars per year will be a prerequisite for the ultimate winners over the next decade. During that decade, human drivers may touch the steering wheel less than once a day on average during their commute. From 2025, companies will begin to deploy these products, and Xpeng will be one of them,” said Xpeng's CEO.
If you have any tips, please contact me at [email protected] or via X @Writer_01001101.
XPeng plans to produce EVs in Europe
Source link
