Guangzhou-based automaker XPeng said on Wednesday that it delivered 62,682 vehicles in the first quarter, marking a 33.3% plunge from the same period a year ago.
The figures mark the first year-over-year decline in quarterly deliveries since the second quarter of 2023 — ending a streak of growth driven by an expanding model lineup and international market expansion over the past three years.
The company said on March 22 that it expected sales to fall in the first quarter, as it set a guidance of between 61,000 and 66,000 vehicles for the first three months of the year.
The target implied a year-over-year decrease of approximately 29.8% and 35.1%, considering the 94,008 vehicles sold in the first quarter of 2025.
XPeng had delivered 20,011 vehicles in January and 15,256 in February — which marked its lowest result since August 2024.
Reduced incentives in China, the world’s largest automotive market, led to steeper delivery declines for several automakers in the first month of the year.
Additionally, the industry was impacted by a longer-than-usual Chinese New Year Holiday period.
In March, XPeng delivered 27,415 vehicles, which falls within the company’s projected range of 25,733 to 30,733 units.
The figures represent a sequential jump of 79.7%.
However, they were still below 33,205 units delivered in March 2025 despite the launch of new models such as G7 SUV and the all-new P7 sedan last Summer.
XPeng debuted production of extended-range electric vehicles late last year, with the X9 MPV, and launched several refreshed iterations of its existing models.
2026 Guidance
XPeng aims to deliver between 550,000 and 600,000 vehicles globally this year.
The guidance represents a 28.1%–39.7% increase from the 429,445 vehicles delivered in 2025.
Full-year 2025 deliveries were 13% above the guidance issued last year — of 380,000 vehicles — which XPeng reached in November, one month ahead of schedule.
The first quarter guidance suggested that the first quarter would be the company’s weakest of the year — a common pattern in the auto industry — with deliveries expected to be at their lowest level since the third quarter of 2024.
The vehicle deliveries between January and March indicate that XPeng had achieved between 11.4% and 10.4% of the target as of Tuesday.
Expansion
The company’s overseas deliveries have been rising steadily as it ramps up its international push, which began in 2020 with its entry into Norway.
Since then, and particularly from 2024 onward, the company has expanded its presence to 60 markets outside China.
In 2025, the brand delivered 45,008 vehicles internationally — roughly 10% of its total deliveries for the year.
XPeng is now targeting to double that figure in 2026.
Late last month, XPeng officially launched in Mexico, expanding its network in South America.
Despite the recently signed China-Canada trade deal — which allows up to 49,000 Chinese-made EVs to enter the country at a lowered tariff of 6.1% per year — XPeng has not yet announced plans for the North American country.
The automaker began the year by debuting the new P7+ across 36 markets simultaneously, a sedan available in both EREV and BEV versions.
XPeng launched the third generation of its fully electric G6 and G9 SUVs in China.
Earlier this month, the brand debuted an EREV version of the entry-level SUV and the Gen 3 of the fully electric X9 MPV.
Upcoming Models
XPeng is expected to launch seven models in 2026, including range-extended variants of already existing fully electric vehicles.
It will include two SUVs in its Mona series, the most affordable in the lineup.
The first model, a coupe SUV, has been spotted uncamouflaged for the first time on Chinese roads last week.
The front end carries the Mona series’ signature split headlight design — a “010” layout with starlight LED clusters.
The price of the coupe SUV will undercut the company’s entry-level G6 SUV.
Additionally, the automaker unveiled its first flagship three-row SUV, the GX.
The new model — which is scheduled to be launched “in the months ahead”— has been undergoing road testing in China for the past several months.
It will be offered in both fully electric and extended-range versions.
XPeng will enter the competitive market of six-seat SUVs in China with its latest model, set to rival models such as the new-generation Nio ES8 and the upcoming ES9, the Onvo L90, the Li Auto i8, the Tesla Model Y L, the Zeekr 9X, among others.
Autonomy & AI
XPeng invested a total of 9.5 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in R&D throughout 2025, of which 4.5 billion yuan went specifically to AI.
The company plans to raise AI-related R&D spending to 7 billion yuan in 2026 as it builds out a full-stack “Physical AI” technology system covering in-house chips, foundation models, and AI infrastructure.
Last month, XPeng began rolling out its 2nd-generation VLA (Vision-Language-Action) smart driving system.
Test drives opened at 732 stores nationwide on March 11 across the Ultra variants of the P7 sedan and the G7 SUV, among other models.
According to XPeng, the VLA 2.0 delivers 30% higher traffic throughput than conventional L2 systems and can interpret traffic police hand gestures.
The first OTA push began on March 19 for P7 Ultra owners, with a broader rollout to follow.
Robotaxi
XPeng announced last November its plans to launch three robotaxi models in 2026 — a 5-seater, a 6-seater, and a 7-seater.
The company will begin manned pilot operations with safety drivers in the second half of the year and is targeting fully driverless operation in early 2027.
“By the beginning of next year, hopefully, we can do without the safety driver on board,” the CEO stated in the latest earnings call.
“In the second half of the year, we plan to launch pilot passenger operations for our Robotaxi service to validate the technology, user experience, and the business model,” he added.
Rapid growth in the robotaxi business is anticipated between 2027 and 2028.
XPeng intends to open its platform globally, partnering with operational partners to scale autonomous driving across multiple markets.
Late last month, the automaker established a dedicated Robotaxi business unit and announced plans to begin passenger-carrying pilot operations in the second half of 2026.
