XPeng Motors and Volkswagen Group have introduced an growth to a lately signed partnership that pushes the collaboration from the co-development of a China-only car platform to now embrace VW’s international MEB platform know-how.
XPeng Motors ($XPEV) is likely one of the most distinguished all-electric manufacturers in China as it really works to develop into a globally acknowledged identify in autos and ADAS know-how, regardless of rising tariffs in different markets.
Through the years, we’ve coated XPeng’s growth of BEVs and new territories, together with entry into Europe, to compete towards native automakers like Volkswagen Group. Conversely, VW has met its personal units of struggles exterior of Europe, together with China, because it tries to go all electrical.
To spice up international gross sales going ahead, Volkswagen Group enlisted the assistance of XPeng to co-develop a brand new digital EV platform to energy a recent line of fashions in-built, and particularly for, Chinese language shoppers.
Signed this previous April, the E/E Structure collaboration builds upon Volkswagen Group’s buy of about 4.99% of XPeng in July 2023 and was established to mix applied sciences, significantly Volkswagen’s present China Foremost Platform (CMP), into the brand new E/E Structure.
On the time, Volkswagen’s Modular Electrical Drive Matrix (MEB) platform was not talked about. The German automaker started growing it in 2015 and at present makes use of it as its main international structure.
As we speak, XPeng and Volkswagen have introduced an growth of their collaboration that may now additionally embrace know-how from the MEB platform to develop not less than two new all-electric fashions, plus the potential for added alternatives to increase this new E/E structure.
Volkswagen provides MEB tech to collaboration with XPeng
XPeng Motors shared particulars of its rising technical collaboration with Volkswagen Group at the moment, which now consists of the 2 new “Venture Homes” in Guangzhou and Hefei for engineers from each automakers to collaborate and develop the promised E/E Structure. Per Ralf Brandstätter, Member of the Board of Administration of Volkswagen AG for China:
The speedy progress within the shut cooperation between the Volkswagen Group and XPENG underlines the nice potential of this partnership. With the joint improvement of a extremely fashionable E/E Structure, by which each companions contribute their technological experience, we are actually taking the following step collectively. For us at Volkswagen, this venture can also be the following milestone within the constant implementation of our ‘in China for China’ technique – with a transparent give attention to Chinese language prospects and technological improvements. From 2026, all all-electric automobiles of the Volkswagen model in China will likely be outfitted with this very highly effective and environment friendly structure.
In line with XPeng, each events have entered right into a “Grasp Settlement” that builds upon their present technical collaboration and solidifies every automaker’s dedication to “collectively develop industry-leading E/E Structure for all regionally produced automobiles based mostly on Volkswagen’s China Foremost Platform (CMP) and Modular Electrical Drive Matrix (MEB) platform.”
Moreover, the Grasp Settlement states that each events will discover “additional collaboration alternatives” to increase the usage of the pending E/E Structure and their respective partnership.
The most recent replace says the primary Volkswagen-branded EV on the brand new structure (a mid-size SUV) is anticipated to start manufacturing 24 months from now and will likely be adopted by a second mannequin, each of which will likely be bought solely in China.
FTC: We use revenue incomes auto affiliate hyperlinks. Extra.
