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Xpeng says its subsequent SUV may just grow to be the corporate’s new best-selling automotive

Xpeng confirmed off its imminent G9 SUV on the Chengdu auto display in August 2022.

China Information Carrier | China Information Carrier | Getty Photographs

BEIJING — Chinese language electrical automotive start-up Xpeng’s latest type will most probably promote higher than its most well liked automotive to this point, in step with Brian Gu, the corporate’s president and honorary vice president.

The corporate officially introduced its G9 SUV on Wednesday. The automobile has been slated to start deliveries in October.

“We expect the amount of G9 subsequent 12 months will exceed what we’ve got completed for P7, which makes it one in every of our top-selling automobiles,” Gu stated in an interview with CNBC’s Eunice Yoon this week.

The P7 used to be Xpeng’s first sedan, introduced in Would possibly 2020, which briefly outsold the corporate’s current G3 SUV that introduced in December 2018. The P7 ranked tenth amongst all new power passenger automobiles — aside from SUVs — bought in China all the way through the primary 8 months of this 12 months, in step with the China Passenger Automobile Affiliation.

Greater than 123,000 P7 automobiles were delivered as of the top of August — just about two times as many because the cumulative supply of kind of 67,000 G3s, in step with CNBC calculations of Xpeng knowledge.

Ultimate 12 months, Xpeng started deliveries of every other sedan, the P5, which has notched cumulative deliveries of greater than 37,000 automobiles as of the top of August, the knowledge research confirmed.

The G9 comes with Xpeng’s newest assisted using gadget, which Gu stated will carry out even higher than in a previous type’s since the new SUV contains high-power Nvidia Orin chips.

With simply 5 mins of charging at an Xpeng station, he stated the brand new automotive can upload 200 kilometers of using vary.

On the other hand, rival Chinese language electrical automotive start-ups Nio and Li Auto even have new SUVs rolling out to shoppers this autumn.

The marketplace is now “very aggressive,” Gu stated. “We want to get a hold of higher and cooler merchandise to renew that enlargement.”

Foot visitors is not up to part of what now we have observed prior to the summer season.

Retailer foot visitors drops

However Gu stated that since summer season, total electrical automotive gross sales have now not been as powerful as they have been originally of the 12 months. He pointed to plenty of components, together with anticipation of latest merchandise, Covid-induced retailer closures and hesitant shoppers.

“Foot visitors is not up to part of what now we have observed prior to the summer season,” he stated.

Learn extra about electrical automobiles from CNBC Professional

As others at his corporate and within the trade have stated, Gu stated Xpeng used to be now not suffering from the newest U.S. restrictions on Nvidia gross sales to Chinese language corporations.

“It does now not practice to us as a result of we do not use that more or less chips,” Gu reiterated.

“I believe clearly, the cloud or knowledge heart companions that we paintings with, they want to take into consideration the best way to proceed to protected such features,” he stated. “It is not one thing that we’re nervous about, however clearly we want to make certain that we’ve got those features provided to us.”

— CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal contributed to this document.