Before the ideal car, Xiaopeng Automobile made its debut in the MPV model.
On the evening of October 24th, Xiaopeng Motors' first MPV model, the Xiaopeng X9, was unveiled on the 1024 Technology Day. He Xiaopeng, Chairman and CEO of Xiaopeng Automobile, said in an interview with a reporter from Daily Economic News: "The X series is the most high-end model in Xiaopeng Automobile's system, and the Xiaopeng X9 is a model for Xiaopeng Automobile for large and medium-sized families
He Xiaopeng did not provide more information on why the MPV model was launched, only revealed that he would introduce more about the Xiaopeng X9 during this year's Guangzhou Auto Show.
Data shows that in the first half of 2023, China's MPV terminal sales exceeded 520000 units, with a year-on-year growth rate of 21.6%, ahead of sedans and SUVs. Among them, the sales and penetration rate of new energy MPVs have significantly increased. As a result, domestic brand new energy MPV models are constantly being launched on the market, and Xiaopeng Automobile undoubtedly wants to catch up with this new trend.
With the changes in the structure of Chinese households, the future high-end growth of MPV is not just a flash in the pan, especially the sustainable growth of the MPV market driven by new energy, which will bring development opportunities for the rise of independent brands. "said Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the National Passenger Car Market Joint Conference.
In terms of product strength, similar to previous products of Xiaopeng Automobile, intelligent driving will become the label of Xiaopeng X9. It is understood that the Xiaopeng X9 will not only adopt a light map solution in intelligent driving, but also a light radar solution. The Xiaopeng X9 will remove two forward facing radars, reducing the overall cost by half, but the XNGP capability will not decrease, "said Li Liyun, the person in charge of autonomous driving at Xiaopeng Automobile.
In fact, reducing costs has become one of the key tasks for Xiaopeng Automobile in the current and future stages. From past data, it can be seen that Xiaopeng Automobile's ability to control costs is indeed poor. Comparing the 2022 annual financial reports, it was found that among NIO, Ideal Automobile, and Xiaopeng Automobile, Xiaopeng Automobile had the lowest annual gross profit margin of 9.4%, while Ideal Automobile and NIO had 19.1% and 13.7%, respectively.
In the second quarter of this year, Xiaopeng Automobile's gross profit margin was -8.6%, with a net loss of 2.8 billion yuan, an increase of 3.8% year-on-year and 20% month on month, exceeding the market's expected net loss of 2.171 billion yuan.
In response, at the second quarter financial report, He Xiaopeng stated that reducing costs and improving efficiency are the key words for Xiaopeng Motors in the next stage. I will work with President Wang Fengying to benchmark the best cost control levels among global and Chinese car companies, and make cost reduction one of the core goals of multiple teams in product development, manufacturing, supply chain, marketing, and more
He Xiaopeng believes that in the face of fierce industry competition, it is very important to have strong cost control capabilities. In the next 5 or even 10 years, strictly controlling costs and achieving the first scale in the market is the only way to truly survive.
In order to achieve this goal, Xiaopeng Automobile is currently implementing multiple cost reduction projects. Especially in the supply chain procurement process, after Li Feng, Vice President and Head of Procurement Department of Xiaopeng Automobile, was suspended for investigation, Liu Yongjie took over Xiaopeng's procurement department. The internal anti-corruption of Xiaopeng Automobile this time is related to its previous high cost of component procurement.
On the 1024 Technology Day, Xiaopeng Automobile also announced multiple cost reduction plans led by technological upgrades. For example, in terms of electronic and electrical architecture, Xiaopeng Automobile has released an onboard computing center that integrates the cockpit. Compared to the previous generation of central computing architecture, XCCP has achieved 40% cost savings; At the same time, Xiaopeng Automobile is also researching the integrated die-casting technology for the floor in CIB+, which will reduce the manufacturing cost of the entire vehicle by 10% to 30%.
According to previous plans, by the end of 2024, Xiaopeng Automobile plans to achieve the goal of reducing overall costs by 25%, and through these cost reduction measures, its gross profit margin will significantly improve in 2024, ultimately achieving a balance of payments by 2025. At present, we are confident that by the end of 2024, we will further increase the target of cost reduction, "He Xiaopeng told reporters.