XPeng has completed the first production trial of its G9L flagship SUV at Magna’s plant in Graz, Austria, the Chinese carmaker said on Wednesday, five days before the model’s global premiere at the Paris Motor Show.
The G9L becomes the fourth XPeng model to go through the Austrian facility, after the G6, G9 and P7+, which are in production there.
XPeng did not say how many it plans to build.
The first pre-production vehicle will be driven 1,324 km from Graz to Paris ahead of the show, the company said.
It described the journey as a real-world test of charging, safety and driving performance before the car goes on display at its stand.
XPeng will open orders for the G9L at the show on October 12. The company said last week that European pricing would be announced in Paris.
One Year in Graz
The trial comes a year after XPeng and Magna began local production in Graz, which the company said started in the third quarter of 2025.
Magna began assembling the G6 and G9 there in September 2025, and the P7+ was added this year.
XPeng called the partnership its first local manufacturing programme in Europe.
“The latest production milestone represents an important step in our journey from entering Europe to building for Europe,” said Zhang Li, Vice President of Global Manufacturing at XPeng.
“The G9L marks another important milestone in our collaboration with XPENG,” said Roland Prettner, President of Magna Complete Vehicles.
“It demonstrates how strong teamwork can translate XPENG’s product vision and technical requirements into robust production processes,” he added.
Building in Austria matters commercially because XPeng’s China-made EVs face a 20.7% countervailing duty in the European Union on top of the standard 10% import tariff.
Assembly of the G6 and G9 in Graz began from semi-knocked-down kits shipped from China, on which different tariffs apply.
Overseas Sales
XPeng has delivered more than 100,000 vehicles outside China, including more than 60,000 in Europe, it said.
More than 6,000 of those were delivered in France since it entered the market two years ago.
Overseas deliveries exceeded 20,000 units in a quarter for the first time in the second quarter of 2026, up 81% from a year earlier.
Markets outside China contributed 25% of first-half revenue, at an average selling price of more than €40,000 ($44,800), the company said.
Germany is its largest international market this year, and XPeng is expanding its dealer network there toward about 110 sites.
The export push comes as XPeng’s overall volumes trail last year, with nine-month deliveries down 9.2% at 284,367 vehicles.
A Global Model
XPeng plans to launch the G9L in 64 countries and regions.
Its validation programme covered 26 countries and regions over three years, with about 6.74 million km of road testing, the company said.
The G9L has completed 192 crash tests, in both left-hand and right-hand drive, and is engineered to meet the five-star requirements of four programmes, Euro NCAP, ANCAP, C-NCAP and C-IASI, according to XPeng.
Standard chassis equipment includes dual-chamber air suspension, variable damping and rear-wheel steering of up to 15 degrees, XPeng said.
The Model
The G9L is 5,120 mm long with a 3,100 mm wheelbase. In China it is sold as a five-seat, two-row SUV.
Wednesday’s release does not mention seating, although Danish XPeng dealer Hessel says on its website that the car will be available there with six and seven seats.
It went on sale in China on September 17 with battery-electric and range-extended versions, at limited-time prices from 231,800 yuan ($34,500) to 309,800 yuan ($46,100).
The entry price was 28,000 yuan ($4,200) below the 259,800 yuan ($38,700) announced when pre-sales opened on August 11.
XPeng has not said which versions will be offered in Europe, what they will cost or when deliveries will start.
The current G9, also built in Graz, is a separate and smaller model.
