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Xpeng’s $486.2 million investment will bring 4,000 jobs

By Nithya Bose in Business News, posted February 20, 2024

Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng is to hire 4,000 people and invest largely in artificial intelligence.

This comes amid warnings from CEO He Xiaopeng about the fierce competition in the electric vehicle sector potentially leading to a "bloodbath."

In a letter to employees, Mr Xiaopeng announced an investment of 3.5 billion Chinese yuan ($486.2 million) towards AI research and development.

It’ll particularly focus on enhancing "intelligent driving" capabilities.

Xpeng, known for its Xpilot driver assistance system enabling semi-autonomous driving features, also plans to introduce around 30 new or updated models in the next three years.

It’ll target the higher-end segment above 300,000 yuan and the 150,000 yuan range.

Despite experiencing a challenging start last year, Xpeng has seen an uptick in deliveries, a crucial measure of sales performance for automakers.

The company is navigating through a price war in China's EV market, initially sparked by Tesla, and coping with the broader economic pressures affecting Chinese consumers' spending behavior.

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Xiaopeng remains optimistic about Xpeng's future, highlighting its recovery and distinct strategy as key differentiators from its competitors.

He Xiaopeng wrote in the memo: “This year also marks the beginning of a fierce competition that may end in a ‘bloodbath’ (or as I prefer to call it, the brutal ‘knockout round’) among Chinese auto makers.

“XPeng has engaged in this cutthroat competition right from the outset, thus accumulating considerable experience.

“Our guts, grit and perseverance, I firmly believe, will lead us to victory.”

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