Chinese electric carmaker Xpeng teased details about two new vehicles it plans to release next year, with one positioned to be a competitor to Tesla’s Model Y.
Currently, the company has four vehicles on sale — the flagship P7 sedan, a cheaper P5 sedan, the G3 sports utility vehicle and a larger G9 SUV that will begin being delivered to customers in October.
Xpeng has been aggressive in launching vehicles as it looks to gain share in China’s fast-growing electric vehicle market and challenge leaders such as Tesla and Warren Buffett-backed BYD.
While the company has not released names or many details about the two new models slated for 2023, Xpeng President Brian Gu, provided some snippets of information.
One of the vehicles will be a so-called B-class vehicle and the other a C-class vehicle. The classes refer to the size of the vehicle. For context, the company’s P7 sedan is a B-class car while the G9 SUV is a C-class vehicle.
Gu said the B-class vehicle will launch in the first half of next year and is “actually going to target [an] even larger market segment” than the P7 sedan. He said the car can be considered a “strong competitor” to Tesla’s Model Y mid-sized SUV.
The C-class product will be released in the second half of 2023, Gu added.
“Given the premium and large format positioning, the number may be limited in terms of contribution,” Gu said of the C-class model. “But again, it’s still going to be targeting a brand-new segment that we did not cover before,” he added.
Gu also said the new models will not be sedans. He did not comment on the type of vehicle they would be.
The executive said the B-class model will be “different” to the upcoming G9 in terms of size and price point.
“So there’s minimal cannibalization from our model positioning and lineup,” Gu said.
Tesla’s Model Y is consistently one of the top-selling electric vehicles in China. But competition in the world’s largest electric car market is on the rise with Xpeng and rivals Nio and Li Auto trying to challenge the U.S. giant.
Details of Xpeng’s new cars came after the company reported a wider-than-expected loss in the second quarter of the year, and weak delivery guidance for the third quarter that sent its stock cratering.
Gu said with the launch of the G9 and its new cars next year, the company will enter a “growth cycle.”
