The last three years have made Israel a very sought-after place by the Chinese car manufacturers, who, although they don’t say so openly, use us to conduct more in-depth market research in markets that are considerably more “revenue” than our humble land. The original invasion from China may have started, on a small scale, by MG, but today you no longer have to bet on who might knock on the entrance doors to the country and anchor in the port; It is enough to take a look at the growing list of Chinese car companies that are sold in Europe after normalization and safety regulations to get a clear indication of who, what, and maybe even when we will experience the same products overseas.
Xpeng is a company that focuses a lot of attention in the automotive industry. And although it is small in size, with an estimated value of 8 billion dollars (just for comparison, BYD is valued at 109 billion dollars and Geely at 15 billion dollars), the Chinese company established in 2014 managed to gain a significant foothold in Europe. Just in the last few days, it announced the establishment of four service centers that will offer a unique customer experience. “We are building close relationships with our drivers, among other things through an application where we will gather all the essential information for them, and we will also attach an eight-year warranty to the battery. But the main thing will be to give them a home and a service after purchase that will completely change the complete envelope for the customer,” says Brian Go , Vice President Xiaofeng.
Xiaofeng is attacking the market in a strategic way, and is very concise with two electric vehicles in two separate groups – a sedan car called P7 that will compete with the Tesla Model 3, as well as a large SUV called G9; Both models boast a low drag coefficient, high energy efficiency, low weight, with the use of a smart design technique that includes hidden handles and aerodynamic designs that should help with the travel range. The sedan will be offered in three versions – normal range, long range and performance, with the most powerful model extracting 430 hp and accelerating it to 100 km/h in 4 s, with a driving range of 570 kilometers according to the WLTP cycle.
The crossover is going to be Xiaofeng’s top selling star; It is a segment D off-road vehicle with a length of 4.9 m, a width of 1.91 m, a height of 1.68 m and a three-meter wheelbase currently designed for five people. It rests on a new floor, with 800 volt voltage control, which allows its 99 kvtch battery to charge in 20 minutes to 80% at fast terminals. It will also be sold in three versions and whoever chooses the performance model will get a decent portion: almost 600 hp and acceleration to 100 km/h in only 3.8 seconds. Yes, in a large and heavy SUV. The driving range is about 500 kilometers between charges.
Both models are updated with a sophisticated semi-autonomous driving system infrastructure known as “full scenario”. It is a system supported by a hardware package consisting of a total of 29 sensors (radar, ultrasound sensors and 360° cameras), whose signals are managed by original software from Xiaofeng. The full scenario is also aided by the car’s real-time 3D mapping system (it accurately reproduces the surrounding environment). You will also find a lot of technology inside the cars; In the G9 we find two ultra-high resolution monitors: a 15-inch screen in the center where the new XPeng 3D interactive user interface is located, based on the Unity3D engine; The second, as usual, is a full and large digital dashboard.
The prices for both models will vary between 50 and 70 thousand euros and yes, it is not exactly a folk-electric vehicle. Today, the company focuses on four countries – Norway, Denmark, Sweden and also the Netherlands (to which we look when a new Chinese brand is launched). In the last two years, Xiaofang has been in talks with several importers in Israel regarding the start of marketing. There is no concrete information on who was in the crosshairs, but there is no doubt that against the background of the establishment of command centers in the Western continent in the last month, the distance to Israel is getting shorter.