Chinese car manufacturer Xpeng Motors has raised $500 million in fresh funding from a bunch of major investors.
The $500 million funding round came from investors including Aspex, Coatue, Hillhouse Capital and Sequoia Capital China and follows on from a $400 million cash injection in November 2019 from a host of investors including smartphone maker Xiaomi. To date, Xpeng has secured a total of $1.7 billion worth of funding.
Xpeng recently started deliveries of its long-awaited P7 electric sedan in China and is currently selling it alongside the G3 SUV.
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CNBC reports that China’s electric vehicle sector has been hit hard by the coronavirus epidemic, with sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) falling by 33.1 per cent year-on-year in June, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reveals. However, as the Chinese economy shows signs of rebounding, sales have been rising month-on-month.
The Chinese government has been trying to re-stimulate the local NEV market due to waning sales and demand. At the start of the year it was announced that new energy vehicle subsidies and tax break policies would be extended to 2022, rather than expire this year as initially planned.
Xpeng was most recently in the news after it emerged that Tesla is continuing to pursue legal action against it, claiming that the company stole and is using its Autopilot source code in its vehicles. According to Tesla, former Autopilot engineer Guangzhi Cao downloaded the driver assistance system’s source code to his personal device through Apple Airdrop before taking up a position at Xpeng.
