Articles by Tom White

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The global boss and founder of XPeng, the eponymous He Xiaopeng, told Chinese media he believes Chinese cars are still ten or twenty years away from being truly of a global standard, despite the rapid uptake of Chinese vehicles around the world.In a wide-ranging round-table interview with Chinese media at the reveal of the next-generation XPeng P7, as published by Autohome, Xiaopeng earmarked his wants for the future of the company.Xiaopeng said “we need to focus on four things: first, technology; second, organisation; third, commercialization; and finally comprehensive global capabilities are crucial.”“This is extremely difficult. Many people say that China’s new energy vehicles [or NEVs, a collective term for hybrid and electric cars] are much better than before, but truly achieving globalization will require 10 or even 20 years of serious study.”When asked a follow-up question on how Chinese cars can break into the international mainstream consciousness as the also-China-based Labubu collectible plush toys have recently, Xiaopeng said it was “a difficult question” but that the previous P7 didn’t have the same impact globally that it had in China.“I don’t quite understand why Labubu has such emotional value globally”“Let me cite a failure example: our first-generation P7 launched overseas in 2021 and few users overseas found it attractive. I was quite surprised."European users believe no matter how beautiful a car is, it must also be family-friendly and have a trunk which must be large. They might go out and stock up with a week’s worth of groceries, so they need a huge trunk.”Therefore, China’s emotional values differ from global emotional values because they are related to local needs, culture, perceptions and thinking. They are completely different, we can’t use our emotional values to judge the world."When will China’s emotional values reach the global level? I believe that when Chinese culture, film and television can successfully reach the global market, then it will be possible. This is an arduous and long-term task, but we will definitely see it in our lifetime. We must work hard.”The new P7 will serve as XPeng’s new flagship model, with the brand spending big in the design department in the hopes that it will have anything but a derivative look. elevating it to a global standard. Xiaopeng explained his company is spending nearly two billion RMB (A$450 million) a year on design. Wang Tan, General Manager of the XPeng Motors Design Centre, said “we wanted to create a design language that would make people say ‘Wow! This is a daring-to-be-first design'. Our entire brand’s tone is daring to be first, and being an explorer of mobility".He added this is why the new P7 is trying something nearly entirely new and not carrying across elements of the previous-generation model.“If today’s designs still combine elements that are considered stable and conservative, then they are not innovative, creative, or original.”Part of the design ethos driving this design upheaval is also to create truly original Chinese designs, according to Tan, “I said Chinese people and Chinese cars can be original and pioneering.”“First and foremost, design itself is a part of the product’s identity, and must align with the brand identity which created it. XPeng is about pioneering.”Mr Xiaopeng may not be wrong. Prior to the rapid global expansion of Chinese brands, Korean giant Hyundai has enjoyed global popularity to go with other South Korean cultural exports like the KPop music phenomenon or popular movies and television like the Netflix series Squid Game.Korean companies followed in the footsteps of both vehicle and cultural exports from Japan which made it a global force that has only just started waning recently.However, Xiaopeng may also underestimate the Chinese car industry’s dominance. It is now by far the largest vehicle exporter in the world, having overtaken Japan, Mexico, Germany, South Korea and the United States since 2020.XPeng’s next move in Australia will be following up its G6 mid-size electric SUV with the X9 people mover and G9 large SUV before the end of the year, with a significant G6 update also due in the near future.It is also considering its options on the sedan front, with the low-cost Mona M03 seeming more likely for an Australian arrival than the flagship P7.

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