Xpeng aims to cut 2024 production cost by 25 per cent as it fine-tunes designs and enhance efficiency to survive competition

Xpeng said it would fine-tune its designs and improve its efficiency next year, as the electric car (EV) maker slashes costs by 25 per cent to stay ahead of the price war that is heating up in the world’s largest vehicle market.

The Guangzhou-based carmaker’s 2022 net loss more than doubled to 9.14 billion yuan (US$1.33 billion) from a year earlier, despite its revenue growing 28 per cent to 27.9 billion yuan, as it invested massively in research and development. Xpeng has been lavishing its electric vehicles with digital bells and whistles including laser-guided sensors (LiDAR), high-performance battery packs that can go further on a single charge and sophisticated in-car entertainment systems with voice commands.

Xpeng’s founder He Xiaopeng unveiled a technology platform called SEPA 2.0 Fuyao Global Intelligent Evolution Architecture,, promising to shorten the carmaker’s development cycle by a fifth.

Most of Xpeng’s EVs are priced above 200,000 yuan, more than the sticker price of most models made by Shenzhen’s BYD at between 100,000 and 150,000 yuan. The cheaper prices appeal to budget-conscious customers which are drifting down the price range at a time of slowing economic growth and rising unemployment, particularly in China’s technology industry.