PRICE WAR EXPECTED TO LAST TWO TO THREE YEARS
He expects the ongoing intense price war in China’s competitive EV industry to last for two to three years, as gasoline-fuelled cars also look to cut prices to maintain market share.
China is the world’s largest EV market with a penetration rate of 35.7 per cent last year, up 8 percentage points year-on-year.
But Mr He expressed optimism, calling it “good market competition”.
“It will not last for many years. I think after it reaches a stage, your competitors will gradually become stable. At this time, you will use better R&D (research and development), better quality and stable prices to serve customers well,” he said.
“I think this is a process. From a market perspective, everyone will have challenges in the short-term, we say we are very ‘juan’ (Chinese slang for competitive). But in the medium-term, it makes the enterprise bigger and even stronger.”
This process also requires XPeng to make products that are more powerful and technologically different, said Mr He.
“If you’re just making the same thing, for cheaper, I don’t think it’s necessary,” he added.
His hope is that XPeng can ultimately change how people travel by making it more safe and efficient.
Mr He predicted that in 10 to 20 years, cars will become increasingly autonomous.
“You can fly between cities or provinces by yourself, although only 5 per cent to 15 per cent of people can. Others still use trains or other means of transportation plus cars, but giving more people a choice – I think this is what we want to do,” he said.
Source: CNA
