Written by Cláudio Afonso | [email protected] | LinkedIn | X
Saturday witnessed an intriguing moment in the automotive industry, particularly for Western brands. Xpeng‘s CEO He Xiaopeng, in which Volkswagen holds a 4.99 percent stake, visited Hefei, where both the German automaker and its upcoming competitor Nio have production plants.
While Nio focuses on the premium segment with models priced above those of Xpeng, the sub-brand Onvo is set to launch in a few days, with its first model, the L60, directly competing with Xpeng‘s entry-level SUV, the G6. In addition, Xpeng is preparing to launch also a sub-brand, called Mona, in June.
The CEO arrived in the brand’s flagship SUV, the G9, and was hosted by William Li for a tour of Nio’s complex in Neopark. There, Xiaopeng delivered the brand’s MPV model, the X9, to Nio‘s CEO, William Li.
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When Xiaopeng commented the active suspension, which Nio showcased with the upcoming flagship Eden ET9 in the last annual event Nio Day, Li interrupted suggesting that Xpeng’s CEO can buy that one in the future.
“ET9, that’s the one you should buy. I can’t give you a 50 percent discount, that would be too much for me,” William said in a relaxed manner while showing Xiaopeng the screen displaying live updates of battery swaps in China.
“When you have 5,000 to 6,000 [battery swaps], I think we will think about it,” He Xiaopeng teased, hinting at a possible partnership to integrate Nio‘s technology into Xpeng’s next platform. This moment followed the pitch of the idea from Nio’s CEO at the Beijing Auto Show three weeks ago.
Nio welcomed the first battery swap partner Changan in November last year, with Geely, Chery, JAC and Lotus joining in the following months. Last week, the company announced that the state owned manufacturer GAC Group is also joining the technology that allows drivers to replace the battery of the car in about 3 minutes.
A few hours after the visit, Xpeng’s CEO shared a selfie with Nio’s CEO on Weibo, mentioning that, coincidentally, the “entrepreneurial buddies” took the same high-speed train.
“Visited Volkswagen and NIO in Hefei, and delivered the X9 to Li Bin. Then, the two entrepreneurial buddies coincidentally took the high-speed rail to Shanghai in the evening.”
When they recently met at the China EV Forum, He Xiaopeng promised to buy the Xiaopeng X9 for Nio’s CEO at his own expense as he confirmed the intention to test drive the model.
According to reports, He Xiaopeng has revealed that he and Nio’s CEO, along with Li Xiang, chairman of Li Auto, often communicate in a group following the industry’s developments.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | [email protected] | LinkedIn | X
