Xiaopeng Motors announced the signing of a strategic technology cooperation and joint development agreement with Volkswagen Group, as well as a joint procurement plan. Driven by this news, Xiaopeng Motors' US stock market rose by over 6% after market hours.
On February 29th, Xiaopeng Motors (NYSE: XPEV; 09868. HK) announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it had signed a strategic technology cooperation joint development agreement and entered into a joint procurement plan with Volkswagen Group.
The announcement states that by integrating the scale advantages of both parties and relying on Volkswagen Group's world-class supply chain capabilities, the joint procurement plan aims to reduce platform costs, fully leverage the synergistic effect of strategic cooperation, and enhance the product strength of the B-class pure electric vehicle jointly developed by both parties.
In the announcement, Xiaopeng Motors CEO He Xiaopeng stated that the strategic cooperation model between Volkswagen Group and Xiaopeng Motors has no precedent in the automotive industry. The deep consensus between the two sides on strategic cooperation and the strong trust bond created between their R&D teams over the past eight months have laid a solid foundation for the smooth launch of the project.
Volkswagen Group's China Director, Bered, stated that through cooperation with Xiaopeng Motors, the product development cycle will be shortened, efficiency improved, and cost structure optimized. In a highly price sensitive market environment, it will significantly enhance the economic competitiveness of products.
Both sides announced this cooperation plan in July last year.
On July 26, 2023, Volkswagen Group announced on its official website that the Volkswagen brand and Xiaopeng have signed a long-term cooperation technology framework agreement. Meanwhile, Volkswagen Group will also invest approximately $700 million in Xiaopeng Motors and acquire approximately 4.99% equity.
On December 6, 2023, Xiaopeng Motors announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it had successfully issued 94.0793 million Class A common shares to Volkswagen Finance Luxembourg S.A., a subsidiary of Volkswagen, accounting for approximately 4.99% of Xiaopeng Motors' total issued and publicly traded share capital after the transaction was completed.
In terms of specific cooperation models, according to the previous announcement, in the initial stage of cooperation, both parties will jointly launch two B-class pure electric vehicles for the Chinese market. These two models will be based on the Xiaopeng G9 model platform and equipped with Xiaopeng's ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) system. Mass production is expected to begin in 2026.
Xiaopeng Automobile introduced that in this cooperation, Xiaopeng will provide intelligent driving systems, Volkswagen will provide engineering design capabilities and supply chain, and both parties will share a larger scale database.
Delivery data shows that in January, Xiaopeng Motors delivered a total of 8250 new cars, a year-on-year increase of 58% and a month on month decrease of 60%.
On Wednesday, the US stock market closed with Xiaopeng Motors falling 6.93% and closing at $8.73 per share.