On July 22nd, Xiaopeng Motors (09868. HK/XPEV. US) announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that the company has signed a strategic cooperation and joint development agreement with Volkswagen for electronic and electrical architecture technology. According to the agreement, both parties will work together to develop industry-leading electronic and electrical architectures for the CMP and MEB platforms produced by Volkswagen in China. It is expected that the first model equipped with this architecture will be mass-produced within about 24 months.
However, the deepening of this cooperation occurred against the backdrop of many unfavorable factors such as executive turnover, continuous losses, and major shareholder reduction faced by Xiaopeng Motors. Since the beginning of this year, the stock price of Xiaopeng Motors has fallen by about 40%, and the continuous "negative" news has caused this new power car manufacturing company to be constantly in turmoil.
Of course, for Xiaopeng Motors, there is no free lunch. It is reported that hundreds of engineers from Volkswagen have settled in the Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors headquarters, and Xiaopeng Motors has set up a dedicated office area for the Volkswagen team. Regarding this, the relevant person in charge of Xiaopeng Motors confirmed the situation to a reporter from China Business News, but did not disclose the specific number of residents. Volkswagen officials told reporters that they will further optimize their cost structure by strengthening local cooperation.
Xiaopeng Motors welcomes the 'white knight'?
Volkswagen and Xiaopeng Motors jointly announced on July 22 that they have signed a strategic cooperation agreement for the joint development of electronic and electrical architecture technology, and will jointly develop the CEA electronic and electrical architecture. The first product equipped with this architecture is expected to be mass-produced in 2026. In the future, domestic Volkswagen brand models based on CMP and MEB platforms will gradually be equipped with CEA to enhance economies of scale through standardized architecture.
This news is undoubtedly a shot in the arm for Xiaopeng Motors. On the day of the announcement, Xiaopeng Motors' US stock price surged by over 6%.
It is worth noting that Xiaopeng Motors is undergoing a high-level upheaval. At the beginning of this year, former General Manager of Great Wall Motors, Zhang Li, joined Xiaopeng Motors and was responsible for production and manufacturing; Jiang Ziyang, a former senior consultant at Lis Strategic Positioning Consulting, has also joined Xiaopeng Motors and is responsible for product planning. It is worth mentioning that Great Wall is Wang Fengying's former employer, and Lis Strategy is a strategic consulting company that Wang Fengying joined after leaving Great Wall. These two are both "old acquaintances" of Wang Fengying at work.
In March, Xia Heng and He Tao, the two founders of Xiaopeng Motors, gradually withdrew from the management team and were jointly driven by Wang Fengying and He Xiaopeng to drive the company's development. Wang Fengying is responsible for rebuilding the entire sales service system and supply chain relationships, while He Xiaopeng focuses on intelligent driving management.
In May, Gu Yuanqin took over as the sales manager of Xiaopeng Motors from Wang Tong, while Wang Tong was transferred to the CEO's Office of Management; In June, renowned designer Juanma Lopez officially joined Xiaopeng Motors as the Vice President of the Styling Design Center, responsible for the management and design decisions of the Styling Design Center. During the same period, Yuan Tingting, a former employee of Alibaba Group, also joined Xiaopeng Motors as the head of the User Experience and Operations Department at the Autonomous Driving Center, responsible for departmental business and team management.
In early July, Jiao Qingchun, Vice President of Xiaopeng Motors, resigned. He had previously been responsible for the Xiaopeng Motors Technology Center and the new H platform project. After Jiao Qingchun resigned, H platform was taken over by Li Yifan, the former head of E platform, while E platform was managed by Vice President Chen Yonghai.
With consecutive high-level changes, Xiaopeng Motors is also facing a painful period of losses.
According to the financial report, Xiaopeng Motors' total revenue in 2023 reached 30.68 billion yuan, an increase of 14.2% compared to the previous year; However, the net profit loss surged to an unprecedented 10.38 billion yuan, an increase of 1.2 billion yuan from 2022, while the automotive gross profit margin plummeted from 9.4% to -1.6%, making the situation precarious.
Despite the improvement in revenue in the first quarter, overall performance remains under pressure. In the first quarter of 2024, Xiaopeng Motors' total revenue was 6.55 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 62.3% and a month on month decrease of 49.8%; During the same period, the total delivery volume of Xiaopeng Motors was 21821 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 19.7% and a month on month decrease of 63.7%. Although the net loss was 1.37 billion yuan, a slight decrease from the 2.34 billion yuan in the same period of 2023, it can only remain the same as the net loss of 1.35 billion yuan in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Xiaopeng Motors' sales performance in the market remains worrying.
According to sales data in May, Xiaopeng Motors sold a total of 10146 units of its 6 models, which is in sharp contrast to the sales of 18616 units and 18165 units of its competitors, Jike and Zero Run, respectively. Especially for the G6 model, sales fell from a peak of 8700 units to 3362 units, a decline of over 61%.
The Xiaopeng G9 also suffered a Waterloo, as improper configuration and pricing strategies during the initial launch led to a sharp decline in consumer enthusiasm, and the second launch failed to reverse the decline. The sales volume of G9 was only 3068 units in May, and even fell below 2000 units for three consecutive months. At the beginning of the year, the pure electric MPV Xiaopeng X9, which sold 3946 units in March, quickly shrank to 1625 units in May, with sales shrinking by nearly 60% within two months.
Xiaopeng Motors faces profitability challenges
The issue of profitability remains a major challenge for He Xiaopeng, the founder of Xiaopeng Motors. Although Xiaopeng Motors has frequently announced a strategic partnership with Volkswagen, this is still not enough to fully address the challenges it faces. The huge investment of Volkswagen is seen as a "white knight" style rescue for Xiaopeng Motors, but the depth and effectiveness of the cooperation still need time to be tested.
The relevant person in charge of Volkswagen said in an interview with reporters, "We further optimize the cost structure through more in-depth localization development and close cooperation with local suppliers in the early stages of product development
The person in charge further explained that "Volkswagen and Xiaopeng Motors have jointly developed an electronic and electrical architecture (CEA) based on regional control and quasi central computing. Through CEA, we have simplified the complexity of the in car control system, reduced the number of electronic control units (ECUs) by 30%, and significantly achieved cost optimization." The promotion of this technological cooperation not only helps to enhance Xiaopeng Motors' product competitiveness, but also has the potential to have a positive impact on Volkswagen's performance in the Chinese market.
Xiaopeng Motors also stated that the signing of the cooperative development agreement not only accelerates the development process of electronic and electrical architecture in China, but also lays a solid foundation for expanding strategic cooperation between the two sides in this technology field in the future. This means that both parties are not only expected to achieve technological breakthroughs in the short term, but may also collaborate in more fields in the long run.
Looking back at the cooperation between Volkswagen and Xiaopeng Motors, as early as last year, Volkswagen announced an investment of approximately $700 million (about RMB 5 billion) in Xiaopeng Motors, and after the transaction was completed, it held approximately 4.99% of Xiaopeng Motors' equity. Both parties plan to jointly develop electric vehicles in China and plan to launch two Volkswagen brand pure electric vehicles jointly built by both parties in 2026. This investment is not only a trust in the future development of Xiaopeng Motors, but also an important step for Volkswagen's layout in the field of electric vehicles.
On April 17, 2023, Xiaopeng Motors and Volkswagen signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement on electronic and electrical architecture technology. According to the agreement, both parties will jointly develop industry-leading electronic and electrical architecture, integrating Xiaopeng Motors' latest generation technology based on central computing and domain controllers. It is expected to be applied to Volkswagen brand electric vehicles produced in China from 2026 onwards. This cooperation further clarifies the direction of deep cooperation between the two parties in the field of technology.
Three months later, the cooperation between Volkswagen and Xiaopeng Motors will further deepen, and both parties will jointly develop CEA and apply it to Volkswagen's CMP and MEB platform models produced in China. The mass-produced models involve three joint ventures: Volkswagen Anhui, SAIC Volkswagen, and FAW Volkswagen. This means that cooperation is no longer limited to technology development, but will directly affect specific products in the market.
It is worth noting that this collaboration comes at a time when Volkswagen is facing software issues and sales pressure.
At present, Volkswagen is still struggling with a large number of software issues. Recently, Volkswagen Group has made adjustments to its plan to launch its electric vehicles, including several important models such as the new ID.4 and Porsche, which have been delayed due to software issues. Previously, the launch of heavyweight electric models such as the Porsche Macan Electric and Audi Q6 e-tron under the Volkswagen Group was delayed due to software issues.
At the same time, Volkswagen is also facing pressure from declining sales in the domestic market. Official data shows that from January to June this year, FAW Volkswagen sold a total of 798500 vehicles (including imported Audi cars), a year-on-year decrease of 4%. Among them, the cumulative sales of Volkswagen brand reached 435300 units, a year-on-year decrease of 7%. In the retail ranking released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers from January to June this year, FAW Volkswagen ranked second with a sales volume of 771000 vehicles, while BYD's sales volume of 1.388 million vehicles was 1.8 times that of FAW Volkswagen.