ANALYSIS The bravest person in Australia might not be a crocodile hunter, a soldier, or a struggling parent trying to keep it together for another week.
It might be the Queenslander who ordered a flying car from a company that crashed in its first year in Australia.
But XPeng says its next chapter will be different.
The brand’s first importer, TrueEV, promised the earth.
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It crowed of 10-year warranties, $5000 cashbacks and years of free servicing, before crashing in a cloud of legal action, frustration, and claims of broken promises.
XPeng says things will be better the second time around, as its Chinese headquarters has stepped in take over from a smaller locally-run operation to make sure the brand takes flight.
That includes $300,000 flying cars.
Terry Zhang, senior marketing and communications manager for XPeng Australia and New Zealand, said the company has developed seven generations of flying cars, and that it will begin mass-producing them this year.
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“We are already opening orders globally for the flying cars and actually we have 11,000 orders worldwide,” he said. “There is someone living in Australia buying one already. “He’s an Australian, he lives in Australia, but he will purchase [the flying car] overseas. “And I think he’s still finding ways to bring it to here and get it on road.”
Clearly, XPeng’s ambition stretches beyond regular vehicles.
The company has taken orders for a $500,000 “Land Aircraft Carrier”, a six-wheeled behemoth that looks as though it rolled off the set for Star Wars.
And that’s before the rear deck opens to reveal a massive drone capable of carrying two people on short joy flights.
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It’s a wonderful promise.
One a long way removed from the reality of XPeng customers in Australia so far.
Take a peek at social media pages for the brand and you’ll find people owned thousands in buyer incentives who are “still waiting on our cashback to come through”.
When local importer TrueEV and global manufacturer XPeng took their disagreement to court, frustrated customers let fly with talk of a seven-month-long wait for spare parts, and 10-year warranties that may never be honoured.
Brenton Dalton is the national service development manager of XPeng’s new era.
He’s tasked with making things right for early adopters who gambled on the brand’s first iteration, lured by the promise of $5000 cashback incentives that were never paid.
While there are more than a few hoops to jump through, Dalton says that “absolutely, we’re paying for those”.
“We’re certainly supporting those … we’re stepping in on a case-by-case basis,” he says.
“And we are actively paying for those now, so we’re not going to talk volumes or anything like that, but we are regularly supporting customers.”
Which is good news.
XPeng is much smaller than many rivals – it sells as many cars around the world in a year as BYD does in a month – but maintains significant ambition.
Including self-driving cars to rival Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” set up.
Damian Royce, the new head of marketing and creativity for XPeng in Australia, says the brand’s autonomous vehicle abilities are “something that we definitely want”.
“Timing wise, that will come down to model cadence, obviously working with and the Australian infrastructure and government, then ultimately what customers want,” he says.
Autonomous vehicles seem more likely to happen than vehicles that soar skyward.
Both feel like a flight of fancy today.
But the world of XPeng is all about the promise of tomorrow.
And the brand’s representatives are adamant the next chapter will be a successful one.
It might be the Queenslander who ordered a flying car from a company that crashed in its first year in Australia.
But XPeng says its next chapter will be different.
The brand’s first importer, TrueEV, promised the earth.
It crowed of 10-year warranties, $5000 cashbacks and years of free servicing, before crashing in a cloud of legal action, frustration, and claims of broken promises.
XPeng says things will be better the second time around, as its Chinese headquarters has stepped in take over from a smaller locally-run operation to make sure the brand takes flight.
That includes flying cars.
Terry Zhang, senior marketing and communications manager for XPeng Australia and New Zealand, said the company has developed seven generations of flying cars, and that it will begin mass-producing them this year.
“We are already opening orders globally for the flying cars and actually we have 11,000 orders worldwide,” he said.
“There is someone living in Australia buying one already.
“He’s an Australian, he lives in Australia, but he will purchase [the flying car] overseas.
“And I think he’s still finding ways to bring it to here and get it on road.”
Clearly, XPeng’s ambition stretches beyond regular vehicles.
The company has taken orders for a $500,000 “Land Aircraft Carrier”, a six-wheeled behemoth that looks as though it rolled off the set for Star Wars.
And that’s before the rear deck opens to reveal a massive drone capable of carrying two people on short joy flights.
It’s a wonderful promise.
One a long way removed from the reality of XPeng customers in Australia so far.
Take a peek at social media pages for the brand and you’ll find people owned thousands in buyer incentives who are “still waiting on our cashback to come through”.
When local importer TrueEV and global manufacturer XPeng took their disagreement to court, frustrated customers let fly with talk of a seven-month-long wait for spare parts, and 10-year warranties that may never be honoured.
Brenton Dalton is the national service development manager of XPeng’s new era.
He’s tasked with making things right for early adopters who gambled on the brand’s first iteration, lured by the promise of $5000 cashback incentives that were never paid.
While there are more than a few hoops to jump through, Dalton says that “absolutely, we’re paying for those”.
“We’re certainly supporting those … we’re stepping in on a case-by-case basis,” he says.
“And we are actively paying for those now, so we’re not going to talk volumes or anything like that, but we are regularly supporting customers.”
Which is good news.
XPeng is much smaller than many rivals – it sells as many cars around the world in a year as BYD does in a month – but maintains significant ambition.
Including self-driving cars to rival Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” set up.
Damian Royce, the new head of marketing and creativity for XPeng in Australia, says the brand’s autonomous vehicle abilities are “something that we definitely want”.
“Timing wise, that will come down to model cadence, obviously working with and the Australian infrastructure and government, then ultimately what customers want,” he says.
Autonomous vehicles seem more likely to happen than vehicles that soar skyward.
Both feel like a flight of fancy today.
But the world of XPeng is all about the promise of tomorrow.
And the brand’s representatives are adamant the next chapter will be a successful one for those brave enough to take the plunge.