Chinese battery electric vehicle (BEV) manufacturer Xpeng has confirmed it is looking to localise vehicle production in Europe to offset the impact of import tariffs imposed by European Union (EU) on Chinese BEV, according to a Bloomberg report.
The automaker’s founder and CEO, He Xiaopeng, said his management team is in the initial stages of searching for a production site in Europe. Xpeng joins a growing list of Chinese automakers including BYD Auto, Chery Automobile and Geely’s Zeekr, in planning to localise production in the region after the European Commission (EC) earlier this month confirmed it will impose tariffs of up to 38% on Chinese BEV imports.
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He Xiaopeng suggested his company’s globalisation strategy will not be impacted by the higher EU import duties, but confirmed “profits from European countries will be reduced as a result of the tariff increase.” The company delivered 52,000 vehicles globally in the first half of 2024 – up 26% year-on-year.
Canada this week also confirmed it will impose 100% import tariffs on Chinese BEVs, following the lead by the US which imposed similar tariffs in April.
He Xiaopeng said that Xpeng also plans to build a large-scale data centre in Europe to support its vehicles’ intelligent driving features. His company has a strategic partnership with Volkswagen, with “hundreds” of the German automaker’s staff working at its headquarters in Guangzhou.
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