The lifecycle of a traditional fuel powered vehicle product can usually reach 7 years, but this rule may no longer apply to new energy vehicle models. In the current era of rapid technological progress and continuous product iteration, the lifecycle of new car models is being shortened.
On December 21st, Interface News learned from insiders that Xiaopeng Motors' first mass-produced model G3 and its mid-term facelift product G3i will be officially discontinued within the year. This product was officially launched in December 2018, with a lifecycle of approximately 5 years.
Xiaopeng Motors responded to Interface News by stating that this decision is based on the company's long-term planning, in order to make Xiaopeng Motors more focused on promoting future development strategies. For the delivered series of models, Xiaopeng Motors will fulfill its commitment to the rights of car owners, provide 10-year maintenance and spare parts supply capabilities for the sold vehicles, and continue to provide OTA software upgrade services for car owners in the future.
According to technology media reports from power plants, Xiaopeng Motors is planning to stop updating the G3 product line and may design a new product to replace the G3 product line. A source familiar with the situation believes that the G3i product line has become outdated and does not align with Xiaopeng Motors' current strategy of switching to the Fuyao 2.0 architecture across the entire lineup. At the same time, the product's contribution to Xiaopeng Motors' current sales and gross profit margin is relatively small.
Interface News visited several Xiaopeng car stores in Shanghai and found that due to insufficient store space, some supermarkets no longer display G3 models in their stores. Currently, Xiaopeng Motors also has two SUV models, the G6 and G9, two sedan models, the P7 and P5, and the upcoming MPV Xiaopeng X9, which is on pre-sale. The five models have already made some supermarkets appear very cramped.
A salesperson from a supermarket store revealed to Interface News that as the Xiaopeng X9 gradually arrives at the store, the G3i exhibition car with poor sales performance can only be removed. Now, the focus of store sales has shifted to the Xiaopeng G6. According to its disclosure, some Xiaopeng G3 production lines have now shifted to producing Xiaopeng G6.
The sales data of Xiaopeng Motors shows that in November, the sales of Xiaopeng G6 reached 8750 units, accounting for 43% of Xiaopeng Motors' monthly sales; Next is the Xiaopeng G9, which achieved monthly sales of 5778 units after undergoing a facelift. The latest sales data of Xiaopeng G3 is no longer publicly available. Interface News found from third-party platforms that G3 sales have hovered below 1000 units this year, with only 443 units sold in October.
As the first model, the mass production and delivery of the Xiaopeng G3 in 2018 helped Xiaopeng Motors prove that it is not a "PPT car". Relying on the single model of Xiaopeng G3, Xiaopeng Automobile's annual sales reached 16608 units in 2019, ranking second among new car manufacturers.
When reviewing the car manufacturing process, CEO He Xiaopeng of Xiaopeng Motors stated that the G3 received nearly 2000 orders within less than 4 days of its launch, which was unimaginable at the time. "A new company made a new product with only one sales store, and we can see such a situation."
After completing the stages from 0 to 1, Xiaopeng Motors enters a new stage of enriching the vehicle model matrix. In April this year, Xiaopeng Motors released the Fuyao 2.0 architecture at the Shanghai Auto Show, which was also Xiaopeng's first step towards platform based car manufacturing. The Xiaopeng G6, 2024 G9, and upcoming Xiaopeng X9 are all designed based on this architecture.
With the launch of multiple products representing updated technology, the contribution rate of Xiaopeng G3 to sales has gradually declined. At the same time, this model has also entered the end of its life this year, making it difficult to have a positive effect on the company's gross profit margin.
In the third quarter of this year, Xiaopeng Automobile's vehicle gross profit margin was negative 6.1%, with losses related to G3i causing a 2.9 percentage point impact on the vehicle profit margin. If the negative impact of G3i on production is not included, Xiaopeng Automobile's gross profit margin in the third quarter will reach breakeven.