An XPeng Inc. G9 electric vehicle at the Shanghai Auto Show in Shanghai, China, on Monday, April 24, 2023.
Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Xpeng shares experienced a decline of approximately 5% on Wednesday following the announcement that the company’s head of autonomous driving would be departing at a critical juncture for the Chinese electric vehicle start-up.
Xinzhou Wu, the vice president of autonomous driving at Xpeng, submitted his resignation citing “personal and family reasons,” as stated by Xpeng.
Liyun Li, the senior director of Xpeng’s autonomous driving team, will be assuming Wu’s position. Li has been leading the project team responsible for Xpeng’s advanced driver-assistance system known as XNGP. Xpeng stated that Li has been “prepared for the transition for a long period of time.”
He Xiaopeng, the CEO of Xpeng, commended Wu’s contributions in positioning Xpeng as a leader in autonomous driving technology.
Wu’s departure coincides with Xpeng’s efforts to regain lost market share from emerging competitors Nio and Li Auto, and also face formidable competitors such as BYD and Tesla in the fiercely competitive Chinese market.
Despite facing losses, Xpeng delivered 11,008 vehicles in July, marking a 28% increase compared to the previous month. This represents the sixth consecutive month of delivery growth and indicates signs of recovery for Xpeng’s business.
The Guangzhou-headquartered company has positioned itself as a frontrunner in autonomous driving and other technologies, setting itself apart from its competitors. Its main semi-autonomous driving product, XNGP, is positioned as a direct competitor to Tesla’s Autopilot.
Xpeng’s CEO He Xiaopeng aimed to reassure investors that the company will continue to progress in technology development.
“Moving forward, we will remain fully committed to our clear roadmap for the development of autonomous driving technology in-house and our strategic partnership with the Volkswagen Group,” stated Xiaopeng.
“I will personally continue to lead our autonomous driving team and reinforce our leadership in Smart EV technologies,” added the CEO.
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