Chinese carmaker XPeng is establishing a National Sales Company in the United Kingdom, taking strategic and commercial control of the brand from distributor International Motors less than 18 months after entering the market.
The brand is preparing to expand its lineup in the UK market with the arrival of the L03 SUV.
Under the new arrangement, XPeng will assume direct responsibility for brand development, dealer network expansion, marketing and customer experience.
International Motors — the Solihull-based importer that also distributes Subaru, Isuzu, Mitsubishi Motors and GWM — will continue providing operational services and local distribution support.
The company had launched XPeng in the UK in February 2025 and built a network of 23 sales outlets across England, Wales and Scotland.
Elvis Cheng, General Manager of XPeng North Eastern Europe, said the move marks “an important next step” in the brand’s long-term commitment to the market.
According to International Motors’ Managing Director William Brown, the agreement gives XPeng “greater direct support” globally while preserving the infrastructure International Motors has built over its 50-year history.
A Slow Start
XPeng entered the UK in February 2025.
After registering 36 vehicles in its first full month in March 2025, sales dropped to single digits in April and May.
Figures picked up in June 2025, when registrations surpassed 100 for the first time, and peaked at 281 units in September — the strongest monthly result of 2025.
By December, the brand had sold 900 vehicles in its debut year, all through a single model: the G6 SUV.
Growth accelerated sharply in 2026. March set a new monthly record with 331 registrations, and June brought 245 units — more than double the same month a year earlier.
In July, XPeng registered 163 vehicles, up from just eight in July 2025, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Year-to-date registrations through July reached 930 units. Combined with the 900 vehicles sold in 2025, XPeng has registered approximately 1,830 vehicles in the UK since its market debut.
As a right-hand-drive market, the UK has required dedicated engineering and production for each model sold domestically — a constraint that has limited the lineup to a single vehicle since launch.
The company is preparing to debut the L03 SUV and X9 MPV in the market, both appearing on its website as “coming soon.”
The X9, built on the company’s SEPA2.0 platform with 800-volt electrical architecture, was first confirmed for the UK earlier this year.
The L03 targets mass-market buyers and could be priced below £40,000 ($29,600), putting the model in competition with the Skoda Enyaq and Ford Explorer.
Adding both would give XPeng three nameplates in the UK, covering compact SUV, mid-size coupé crossover and full-size MPV segments.
Continental European markets, by contrast, offer a wider range of XPeng products built in left-hand-drive configuration.
Australia Precedent
The UK restructuring mirrors a more turbulent transition in Australia, where XPeng’s relationship with its distributor ended in litigation.
TrueEV had introduced XPeng to the Australian market in 2024 under a five-year exclusive distribution agreement and claimed to have delivered more than 2,000 G6 units by the end of 2025.
Early this year, XPeng notified TrueEV of its intention to terminate the exclusivity arrangement and switch to a direct, factory-backed model.
TrueEV filed proceedings in the Federal Court in March, alleging unconscionable conduct.
Australia’s Federal Court dismissed TrueEV’s case in August after the distributor failed to pay a court-ordered security bond of AU$1.26 million (about US$906 million).
The ruling turned on that procedural failure rather than on the substance of TrueEV’s claims, which remain untested.
XPeng’s wholly owned subsidiary, XPeng ANZ, now operates as the sole authorized channel in the country.
The UK shift, by contrast, appears to be amicable, with International Motors retaining an operational role.
Both sides have characterized the change as an evolution of the existing partnership rather than a termination.
Brown described the arrangement as “good news for XPeng, its retailers and its customers.”
Overseas Push Gathers Pace
The UK restructuring fits within XPeng’s broader international expansion.
The company has set an internal target of 550,000 to 600,000 total vehicle deliveries in 2026 and aims to double overseas shipments from the 45,008 units delivered outside China in 2025.
Overseas shipments accounted for 19% of total deliveries in the first half of 2026, up from 9.5% a year earlier.
XPeng reached a new monthly export record in June for the third consecutive month, shipping 7,533 vehicles — nearly double the 3,779 units exported in June 2025.
Denmark recently became the brand’s third overseas market to pass 10,000 cumulative deliveries, following Norway and the Netherlands.
Management has said overseas sales should contribute 70% of total profit by 2030, with a target of one million cumulative overseas deliveries by the same year.
The company’s sales and service network now spans more than 1,000 locations across 60 countries.
Dwarfed by Chinese Rivals
Despite the sharp percentage gains, XPeng remains a marginal presence in the UK compared with other Chinese entrants.
Its 930 year-to-date registrations represent a 0.07% market share — far behind the Chinese brands that have reshaped the British sales charts since 2023.
BYD registered 6,603 vehicles in July alone, bringing its year-to-date total to 44,398, a 96.7% increase over the same period in 2025.
The Chinese giant’s UK lineup spans 12 models across six battery electric vehicles and six plug-in hybrids, including the Seal U DM-i, the brand’s best-selling UK model for much of 2026.
Chery’s export-focused brands have arguably mounted the most striking offensive. Jaecoo registered 5,502 vehicles in July, up 187.3% year over year, while Omoda added 3,403, an 81.6% rise.
Combined, Chery’s three marques registered 12,117 vehicles in July and 82,924 year to date.
Jaecoo’s fully electric E5 SUV ranked third among all BEV models sold in Britain in July with 1,291 registrations, behind only the Renault 5 and the Kia EV3, according to SMMT data.
The Jaecoo 7 hybrid SUV — nicknamed the “Temu Range Rover” by British consumers — was the UK’s overall best-selling new car in March.
However, a key distinction separates XPeng from those competitors.
BYD sells both fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, with Chery’s Omoda and Jaecoo brands offering petrol, PHEV and BEV variants across their SUV ranges.
XPeng, by contrast, sells only fully electric vehicles — a pure-play positioning that limits its reach in a market where plug-in hybrids accounted for 14.9% of all registrations in July and grew 33.6% year over year.
Britain’s new car market grew 11.7% in July to 156,571 units, the best July performance since 2019 and an eighth consecutive month of growth, the SMMT said.
BEV registrations rose 44.5% to claim a 27.5% market share — a record for the month — though the increase partly reflects comparison with a weak July 2025 when some buyers delayed purchases pending confirmation of Electric Car Grant eligibility.
August registration figures are expected in the coming days.
