XPeng (9868) chief executive He Xiaopeng expressed confidence in doubling annual deliveries by 2025, after the company led emerging EV makers in January with 30,350 vehicles delivered, a remarkable 268 percent year-on-year surge.

He also announced plans to achieve L3-level autonomous driving by the second half of the year, supported by a projected research and development investment of 9.5 billion yuan (HK$10.2 billion), of which approximately 4.5 billion yuan will be dedicated to artificial intelligence.

Highlighting XPeng’s core strength in autonomous driving, He predicted that the technology will fundamentally transform China’s automotive industry over the next five years, much like the impact of new-energy vehicles in recent years.

GORDON YANG