Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Xpeng plans to expand to 60 international markets this year, doubling its current footprint in around 30 countries and regions, company chairman and chief executive He Xiaopeng said on Saturday.

He made the remarks at a port in Guangzhou, the capital of southern Guangdong province, where Xpeng launched global shipments of its flagship seven-seat multipurpose vehicle (MPV), the X9. A total of 300 right-hand drive versions of the X9 would be transported to Thailand, with deliveries to the owners starting immediately upon arrival.

He expects that by 2023 half of Xpeng's sales volume will be generated from outside China. The firm generated 13 per cent of its 2024 sales volume from overseas, Xpeng vice-chairman and president Brian Gu said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month.

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Xpeng kicked off global shipments of the X9 in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Saturday. Photo: Handout alt=Xpeng kicked off global shipments of the X9 in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Saturday. Photo: Handout>

Xpeng also intends to expand its charging network, with plans to set up ultra-fast charging stations in Thailand and Hong Kong in the first half of the year, He said on Saturday.

In addition, the company would start testing its autonom

ous driving system in international markets this year, and introduce self-driving cars to users in the global market starting from 2026, he said.

The expansion in Thailand, where only one Xpeng model, the G6, is currently available, is part of its "go-global 2.0 strategy", under which the company plans to enter markets in Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Thailand is one of the most open markets when it comes to electric cars, aiming to produce 30 per cent of its total auto output as "zero-emission vehicles" by 2030. A local policy grants a buyer subsidy of up to 100,000 baht (US$2,976) per EV purchase from local manufacturers from 2024 to 2027.

Chinese cars are challenging the dominance of Japanese brands in Thailand. In 2024, the market share of Japanese passenger cars shrank to 64.8 per cent from the previous year's 67 per cent, while the share of Chinese carmakers was 18.8 per cent, up from 17.1 per cent, according to nationwide data released by Toyota Motor's Thai subsidiary.

He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xpeng, speaks at the launch event in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Saturday. Photo: Coco Feng alt=He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xpeng, speaks at the launch event in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Saturday. Photo: Coco Feng>

Unlike its Chinese peers BYD and Great Wall Motor that have opened factories in Thailand, Xpeng does not have immediate plans for local production. He said on Saturday that the firm can only "answer the question [about Thai plants]" when "it grows bigger". "We expect to have [production] plans in more places around the world in the future," he added.

Xpeng's exports to Thailand still enjoy zero tariffs under a 2018 free trade agreement with China. In contrast, other international markets have become more problematic. For example, the United States quadrupled tariffs on Chinese EVs to 100 per cent last September, while European Union member states in October approved new tariffs on Chinese EVs of up to 35 per cent, in addition to the existing 10 per cent.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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