Chinese electric vehicle (EV) startup Xpeng said it had appointed Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby group as its distributor for Hong Kong (HK) as the company begins to expand its sales operations beyond mainland China.
Xpeng will offer premium battery electric vehicles (BEVs) equipped with autonomous driving.
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Xpeng president Brian Gu said in a statement: “This marks a major milestone in Xpeng’s go-global strategy.”
Sime Darby Motors, the vehicle distribution division of the Kuala Lumpur-based group, plans to open its first HK Xpeng outlet in Hong Kong in the third quarter of this year with the launch of right hand drive (RHD) versions of the G6 SUV and X9 MPV BEVs.
Xpeng currently produces left hand drive (LHD) vehicles, which so far have been sold mainly in China. The company’s agreement with Sime Darby and the availability of RHD vehicles strengthens its international expansion strategy at a time when competition on the mainland continues to intensify.
CEO He Xiaopeng said recently Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia were next on the list of overseas markets with deliveries scheduled to start in the third quarter.
Last month, the company began shipping LHD vehicles to Europe with deliveries in Germany scheduled to begin in May.
Xpengs sales last year increased 17% to 141,600 units, with cumulative sales of 400,000.
