XPeng pledged on Thursday tougher measures against individuals he accused of orchestrating malicious online attacks against the Guangzhou-based carmaker.
As the brand escalates the public campaign to defend its reputation, the brand’s Vice President of Marketing, Thomas Yu, said on Thursday that XPeng is cooperating with authorities to pursue action against three individuals who have “maliciously fabricated rumors and stirred up negativity” about the automaker.
“We’ve previously explained this: recently, we have been working with relevant authorities to take action against three individuals who are particularly enthusiastic about maliciously spreading rumors, smearing, and stirring up negativity about XPeng,” Yu wrote on Weibo.
“What everyone has seen so far is only the initial stage of handling — the matter is not over,” the executive added.
Yu said XPeng has set up a special task force to intensify its efforts and would adopt a “comprehensive approach” to crack down on what he described as long-term, profit-driven smear campaigns.
“For those who have long engaged in smearing and who use various means in an attempt to seek personal gain, we have established a special task force to deliver a more severe crackdown through comprehensive measures,” the executive wrote.
Yu warned that those spreading false claims should not take comfort in ambiguity or delay in enforcement.
“Don’t think you can get away with playing word games. In fact, you are already seriously violating the law,” he wrote. “The reason you’re not in trouble yet may simply be because the process is still on the way.”
“Don’t assume that playing word games keeps you safe,” he added. “You’ve already seriously violated laws and regulations. The reason nothing has happened yet may simply be that the process is still on its way.”
XPeng is among several Chinese car brands which claim to suffer coordinated misinformation and defamation posts by self-media outlets and influencers on platforms such as Weibo and Douyin, the Chinese TikTok.
Several automakers, including XPeng, BYD and Nio, have launched dedicated legal social media accounts over the last few years to respond to online attacks and signal formal legal action publicly.
In one such case, XPeng’s legal Weibo account said last month that a self-media outlet violated a confidentiality agreement after attending a closed-door product shoot, leaking sensitive information that the company said caused “serious disruption” to its operations.
XPeng said it had collected evidence and launched legal proceedings against the outlet.
The company also recently disclosed a court victory involving an influencer who falsely claimed late last year that XPeng’s P7+ sedan used inferior battery technology. A Guangzhou court ruled the remarks defamatory, ordering the individual to issue a public apology and pay damages.
Separately, XPeng updated earlier this week its hiring plans for this year, increasing the number of new hirings from 6,000 to 8,000, the company said in an internal event.
XPeng aims to deliver 380,000 vehicles this year, doubling from 2024. The number of markets where it is active is also planned to be doubled from 30 last year to 60.
