Written by Cláudio Afonso | Info@claudio-afonso.com | LinkedIn | X
The chief executive of Xpeng, He Xiaopeng, reacted on Weibo to the recent developments of Tesla’s advanced assisted driving software in China. Xiaopeng predicts that the new decade will be focused on smart cars adding that Tesla has “very good autonomous driving technology”.
“Today, many friends asked me about my views on FSD entering China, and I am particularly welcoming Tesla’s FSD entering China. If the last decade was the decade of new energy, the new decade will be the decade of smart cars. The vigorous development of large-scale models in the past two years has significantly accelerated the advancement of advanced autonomous driving and unmanned driving technologies and experiences,” He Xiaopeng wrote.
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“Combining our own progress, I believe that large-scale models will accelerate the landing speed of autonomous driving by at least 3 years, and Full Self Driving (FSD) is also one of the best commercial scenarios for large-scale models to land,” Xpeng CEO added.
In conclusion, He Xiaopeng added that China is “vigorously promoting openness and new quality productivity”.
“Tesla has very good autonomous driving technology and brand. Only with more good products and technologies entering the market can we provide better experiences for the entire market and customers, and promote the market towards a benign development and accelerated advancement. Moreover, China is vigorously promoting openness and new quality productivity. I believe that whether it is Tesla’s FSD, Xpeng’s NGP, or competitors’ NOA, these are representatives of new quality productivity and should be supported for diversified development”.
Tesla has introduced this weekend its Enhanced Autopilot (EAP) subscription service in China, priced at 699 yuan per month ($98.5). Elon Musk hinted recently at the possibility of offering full self-driving capabilities in China soon, stating “It may be possible very soon” in a recent post on X.
The version 12 of the software is “ready for supervised FSD in LHD countries,” with RHD countries (such as he UK or Japan) expected to follow suit later, according to the Tesla CEO.
Last week, Xpeng announced on its Weibo account a temporary car purchase subsidy amounting to 500 million yuan ($70.4 million), accessible until May 5, 2024. This subsidy encompasses four models: Xpeng G9, G6, P7i, and the 2024 Xpeng P5.
Last month, XPeng delivered 9,026 vehicles, nearly doubling (99%) compared to the previous month and a 29% increase year-over-year. In total, Xpeng delivered 21,821 units in the first quarter of 2024, reflecting a 20% increase compared to the same period last year.
Earlier this week, the manufacturer reported the expansion of its partnership with the Volkswagen Group to jointly develop E/E Architecture for the German EV platform for China. Implementation is expected to start in 2026 across Volkswagen’s electric vehicles manufactured in the country.
Over the last few weeks, the brand kicked off in the German market and announced dealer partners for Portugal, Spain, Hong Kong, and Macau. On Tuesday, Xpeng signed with Hedin Automotive to sell its fully electric models in Belgium and Luxembourg.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com | LinkedIn | X
