This post was originally published on this site
In a letter sent to employees on Sunday quoted by Reuters, Chief Executive He Xiaopeng vowed to “buck” a recent pullback in investment seen in the company’s rivals. Cooling auto demand in China, the world’s largest auto market, has led many of Volswagen-backed Xpeng’s peers to slash costs and lower headcount.
But, according to Reuters, He is aiming to bring Xpeng into a “high-speed positive cycle” in the fourth quarter of this year or earlier. With this goal in mind, Xpeng is planning to expand its workforce by 25% based on 2022 figures and spend 3.5 billion yuan — roughly $486 million — on new investments in artificial intelligence research and the development of intelligent driving.
He hailed an “opportunity for our development,” adding that 2024 will be the first year of a “knockout round” in an ongoing fierce competition between China carmakers, Reuters reported.
The announcement comes at a time when China’s government has said it will support local companies doing business overseas despite facing a raft of trade restrictions. Officials in both the U.S. and European Union have also expressed concerns that Beijing could dump electric vehicles on to foreign markets in a bid to relieve local excess capacity, according to the Financial Times.
