Xpeng aims to expand sales with a mass-market brand while avoiding higher tariffs in Europe by finding a manufacturing location in the region.
The automaker is in the early stages of selecting a location in the European Union as part of a plan to localize production of its namesake brand, CEO He Xiaopeng said in an interview at the company’s headquarters in Guangzhou, China, on Thursday.
Xpeng, Volkswagen’s Chinese partner, expects to expand in areas with “relatively low labor risks,” he said, adding that the company also plans to set up a large-scale data center in Europe as efficient software collection becomes paramount for cars’ intelligent driving functions.
