XPeng founder and CEO He Xiaopeng teased amid the IAA Auto Show in Germany this week that the Chinese carmaker is considering building cars locally in Europe to blunt the impact of tariffs and strengthen its position in the market.
The executive inaugurated on Thursday XPeng’s first European R&D center — the 9th globally — and revealed the company plans to expand sales of its cheaper ‘Mona’ series globally next year.
“In all countries — whether it’s in China, in Europe, or the rest of the world — we hope to build infrastructure locally first and also build teams, services, systems and the whole process,” He said in a CNBC interview.
XPeng already sells vehicles in more than 15 European markets including — among others — Germany, France, Italy, Slovakia, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Ireland, Finland and Belgium.
The European lineup, which includes both SUVs G6 and G9, will “soon” expand with the arrival of the P7+ sedan — the brand announced this Friday.
The model made its European debut a year ago at the Paris Auto Show.
“As we are entering the European market, we think about how to — jointly with the locals — build up R&D capacity and jointly build manufacturing capacity. We must create with the locals a win-win situation,” He said.
“I believe all automobile manufacturers, when facing this tariff and price war, must consider and practice this strategy.”
The comments come as Chinese automakers step up lobbying efforts in Brussels. I
n July, a group of EV makers — including Nio, XPeng and Xiaomi — joined discussions between China and the European Union aimed at averting higher tariffs on Chinese-made vehicles.
He, who previously founded companies in software and internet services, suggested acquisitions are also on the table as XPeng seeks to expand its reach.
“If we have the opportunity we want to acquire some companies if for us it’s a good company,” he said. “Maybe technical, manufacturing or EV company — it’s always possible.”
