XPeng expanded its workforce by 4,520 people in 2025, the biggest annual increase in the Chinese carmaker’s history as a public company, according to the annual report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday.
The Guangzhou-based brand ended 2025 with 19,884 employees, up from 15,364 a year earlier, the 20-F filing shows.
The 29.4% headcount increase was the fastest since 2021, the year XPeng grew threefold following its New York IPO.
The hiring surge coincided with the fastest revenue growth in XPeng‘s public history.
Total revenue rose to 76.72 billion yuan in 2025 from 40.87 billion yuan in 2024, an 87.7% increase.
The company also recorded its first-ever quarterly net profit in the fourth quarter, of 380 million yuan.
A Pivot to Physical AI
XPeng co-founder, chairman and chief executive He Xiaopeng told investors on the March 20 earnings call that 2025’s scale-up was driven by “enhanced organizational capabilities centered on physical AI” — the expansion that enabled the company to bring its Turing AI chip into mass production and begin deliveries to Volkswagen.
The company disclosed that it invested 9.5 billion yuan in R&D in 2025, of which 4.5 billion yuan went to AI-related development. He said R&D spend on physical AI would rise to 7 billion yuan in 2026.
He told investors that “scale allows us to survive in competition,” but it is leadership in physical AI that will define XPeng‘s competitive advantage.
R&D Leads the Build-Out
Research and development added 2,645 employees in 2025 alone — a 42.7% annual jump and the largest absolute gain of any function.
R&D now employs 8,845 people, nearly 1.5 times the size of sales and marketing.
Its share of total headcount climbed to 44.5% from 40.4% at the end of 2024, the highest in XPeng‘s public history.
R&D expenses in the fourth quarter reached 2.87 billion yuan, up 43.2% year-on-year and 18.3% from the prior quarter, roughly matching the pace of R&D headcount growth.
He framed the broader opportunity in expansive terms, telling investors that over the next five to 10 years “the market for physical AI is expected to surpass” that of the automotive industry, and describing global robotaxi and humanoid robot markets as “$1 trillion-$10 trillion level” opportunities.
XPeng began construction of a mass production facility for its Iron humanoid robot in Guangzhou in the first quarter, targeting monthly output of more than 1,000 units by year-end.
The company is also scaling its in-house Turing AI chips, which have shipped more than 200,000 units cumulatively and are targeted to reach 1 million units in 2026.
Manufacturing grew to 4,783 employees, up from 3,702, a 29.2% increase that mirrors the ramp at XPeng‘s Zhaoqing and Wuhan plants.
Manufacturing headcount has now nearly doubled from the 2,647 reported in 2022.
Sales and marketing expanded to 5,501 people from 4,888, a 12.5% increase.
Its share of the total workforce fell to 27.7% from 31.8%, reflecting the relative weight the company now places on technology investment over retail expansion.
Multi-Year Trajectory
XPeng‘s public headcount disclosures, compiled across six 20-F filings since 2021, show the company rebuilding after a difficult 2023.
At year-end 2018 — the earliest year disclosed in its SEC filings — XPeng employed 2,598 people.
The company grew to 3,715 in 2019 and 5,084 in 2020, the year it went public on the New York Stock Exchange.
Headcount nearly tripled in 2021 to 13,978, before adding 1,851 in 2022 to reach 15,829.
The company then cut 2,279 jobs in 2023, its only annual contraction on record, as the G9 launch struggled and the business restructured under He and then-president Brian Gu.
Total headcount fell to 13,550 by the end of that year.
Hiring resumed in 2024, with 1,814 new roles taking the total to 15,364.
The 2025 expansion of 4,520 employees is larger than the 2022, 2023 recovery and 2024 hiring years combined.
A Peer-Group Outlier
XPeng‘s hiring stands apart from its Chinese peers. Both Nio and BYD cut headcount in 2025.
Nio ended 2025 with 35,032 full-time employees, down from 45,635 a year earlier — a reduction of 10,603 people, or 23.2%, according to the Shanghai-based automaker’s own 20-F.
BYD cut approximately 100,000 jobs, its first major headcount decline, ending the year with around 870,000 employees according to its 2025 annual report filed with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
XPeng‘s 29.4% headcount growth, against an 87.7% revenue expansion, produced a 45.2% rise in revenue per employee to 3.86 million yuan.
Nio‘s revenue per employee climbed to 2.50 million yuan from 1.44 million while BYD‘s rose to 924,000 yuan from 802,000.
Overseas Remains Small
XPeng reported 385 employees based outside mainland China and Hong Kong at year-end 2025, up from 314 a year earlier.
The overseas share of total headcount held roughly flat at 1.9%.
The figures suggest the bulk of XPeng’s international expansion continues to be supported from Chinese headquarters rather than through dedicated local operations as it relies on local distributors and partners for sales and service.
The company operates in dozens of markets outside China and has been expanding its European dealer network.
XPeng plans to double its overseas store count to 680 by year-end 2026 and has guided for overseas revenue to contribute more than 20% of the top line, up from more than 15% in 2025.
