Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
XPeng’s head of brand public relations, Alex, accused two rival automakers on Weibo of running paid social media campaigns targeting XPeng’s best-selling model, the Mona M03.
The executive didn’t disclose which brands are allegedly involved in the campaigns but teased that one is headquartered in the North of China while the other is based in the southern part.
XPeng’s head of public relations promised to reveal the names of the brands later this week.
“Looking through the daily monitoring reports shared by the team, the ‘negative mudslinging’ section always involves two brands—one from the north and one from the south—persistently fixating on the topic of ‘XPeng Mona,’” Alex wrote on Weibo. He claimed the campaigns “have been ongoing for several months.”
In December, the Mona M03 sedan sold more than 10,000 units for the fourth consecutive month, the brand announced on January 1. In the first four months of production, XPeng delivered 50,000 units, making it its best-selling model in the first motnhs after the launch.
The executive went on to say that the two brands haven’t seen any “noticeable change” in their sales performance despite running these campaigns.
“I’m genuinely curious—haven’t you run out of budget for throwing dirt yet? Can’t you express yourselves without mentioning the XPeng brand? What’s more, after all that effort, there doesn’t seem to be any noticeable change in your sales performance,” the post continued.
In response to a comment speculating the brands involved might be Xiaomi (South) and GAC (North), Alex denied Xiaomi’s involvement, stating, “Xiaomi is a good friend.”
Separately, on Friday, Alex refuted rumors circulating on Weibo about the pricing and specifications of XPeng’s upcoming G7 SUV, dismissing the information shared by a blogger as “obviously fake.”
“Time to debunk rumors again. This is clearly fake information at a glance,” he wrote, adding, “Random rumors from unverified sources really can’t be trusted—they’re just too ridiculous.”
Last week, XPeng released the first images of its new fully electric SUV, the G7. Priced at approximately 250,000 yuan ($34,100), the vehicle has been spotted undergoing road tests in China in recent weeks.
Just hours after images of Tesla’s Model Y winter testing in China were leaked, XPeng confirmed on Weibo that the G7 is being developed as a direct competitor to the world’s best-selling car.
Positioned between XPeng’s entry-level SUV, the G6, and its flagship G9, the G7 aims to be “the most competitive SUV in the 250,000-yuan class this year,” the company’s vice president Yu Tao wrote on Weibo.
The company signed, earlier this month, a memorandum of understanding with Volkswagen Group China to jointly build more than 20,000 chargers creating “one of the largest super-fast charging networks in China.”
The charging network will be co-operated by both companies, though they have not disclosed a timeline for achieving the 20,000-pile target. In 2023, Volkswagen Group announced it had acquired a 4.99% stake in the Chinese EV maker.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
