China’s XPeng is buying out Didi Global’s Smart electric car division. The move will allow them to roll out a new, affordable brand of electric cars.
XPeng is set to launch a new model named “Mona” with zero emissions and prices of around $20,500.
The Chinese brand is planning to build at least 100,000 Mona cars per year, marketed specifically towards mainly China and Norway, but with plans of expanding to Sweden and the Netherlands.
Didi is set to become a strategic shareholder, assisting XPeng with the development of the upcoming models. The first car should drop sometime next year.
XPeng has been focusing on selling premium EVs, but with Mona, they are entering a new low-budget segment. The move is hoped to increase the company’s presence in the industry and surge sales figures. This comes just after competing brands such as BYD has launched affordable models.
XPeng sold approximately 41,000 electric cars in China in the first half of 2023, which is nearly 2% of the total of EVs sold in the country. Meanwhile, BYD accounted for 550,000 sold EV’s in the same period.
Source: autoevolution.com
