{"id":814609,"date":"2026-07-21T15:29:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T15:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/814609\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T15:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T15:29:13","slug":"forget-byd-xpeng-relaunches-in-australia-with-five-new-models-and-the-german-luxury-brands-in-its-crosshairs-ev-central","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/814609\/","title":{"rendered":"Forget BYD! XPeng relaunches in Australia with five new models and the German luxury brands in its crosshairs \u2013 EV Central"},"content":{"rendered":"

XPeng has relaunched in Australia as a factory-backed operation with a promise of five new models within six months, a seven-year warranty and its latest technology arriving in step with China \u2013 and it\u2019s made no secret of which brands it\u2019s targeting.<\/p>\n

The ambitious Chinese EV maker (no, it\u2019s not alone on that front!) is coming for Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Tesla with an expanded range of battery electric vehicles as well as EREVs, or extended-range electric vehicles (essentially plug-in hybrids where the engine never drives the wheels and is only used to generate electricity).<\/p>\n

\u201cOur brand is perceived as a premium brand,\u201d said Alex Tang, XPeng\u2019s head of international markets, at the Australian relaunch.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: XPeng action! New Aussie distributor announces XPeng G6 update including AWD Performance<\/a>
READ MORE: This is getting nasty: TrueEV and XPeng are in Federal Court, as EV distributor alleges \u201cunconscionable conduct\u201d<\/a>
READ MORE: Electric full-size XPeng GX revealed: But is its styling just too close to Range Rover for comfort?<\/a><\/p>\n

\"XPeng Vice Chairman and Presient of XPeng Dr. Brian Gu. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have some customers who come from premium brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi. And we do have some customers who come from Tesla because we are perceived as the best alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tang cited European feedback on the G6 mid-size SUV.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the best alternative to the Tesla Model Y.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for leading Chinese brand BYD \u2013 now firmly established as one of Australia\u2019s top-selling brands \u2013 Tang was blunt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really don\u2019t think BYD is our competitor, not only in China but globally, because we do have a different positioning \u2013 not only the brand, but also the products, and the customers are always different.\u201d<\/p>\n

The relaunch event \u2013 attended by XPeng vice chairman and president Dr Brian Gu and hundreds of other guests including media and dealers \u2013 marks the shift to a factory-backed operation from independent distributor TrueEV, and comes with what the company calls its \u201cUltimate Tech\u201d strategy for Australia and New Zealand, built on three pillars: products, intelligence and experience.<\/p>\n

\"XPengXPeng Australia relaunch: New G6.<\/p>\n

\u201cInternational customers should not wait years for yesterday\u2019s technology,\u201d said Dr Gu. \u201cOur goal is to bring Australia the latest generation of XPeng products in sync with Chinese speed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the next six months, we plan to introduce five of our latest AI vehicles to the Australian market. It\u2019s not a one-model launch. It\u2019s a rapid expansion of the XPeng portfolio.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rollout starts with the updated G6 mid-size SUV and the new X9 people mover \u2013 priced from $89,900 and on sale now \u2013 with three more models, including the G9L in November, followed by the L03 (pictured top \u2013 known as the Mona L03 in China) and the L05 early in 2027.<\/p>\n

The brand has also committed to the GX large SUV, although timing and a local name (Lexus holds the rights to the GX nomenclature) are yet to be confirmed.<\/p>\n

For now, the sleek P7 sedan looks like a non-starter given the decline in sedan sales locally.<\/p>\n

XPeng ANZ head of marketing Damian Royce said the brand would launch \u201cin sync with China, not years behind\u201d.<\/p>\n

Underpinning the relaunch is a renewed focus on after-sales support, addressing what Royce called the key question for any new brand: longevity.<\/p>\n

\"XPengXPeng Australia relaunch: X7.<\/p>\n

In short, will the brand still be here in a few years?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no shortage of industry pundits predicting the demise of some brands \u2013 both new and established \u2013 as competition heats up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill they last? Will anyone pick up the phone? How long do I need to wait for parts? We are building XPeng ANZ to answer every one of those questions,\u201d said Royce.<\/p>\n

That includes a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty for private owners (seven years\/160,000km for commercial use) and an eight-year\/160,000km warranty covering the battery and drive units, backed by comprehensive technical support, including Australian-based technicians who can diagnose issues remotely using live vehicle data.<\/p>\n

XPeng says it already has 25 showrooms operating, with more on the way, a national parts warehouse with fast delivery through a FedEx partnership, offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland, and 24\/7 roadside assistance.<\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence sits at the centre of the brand\u2019s pitch \u2013 and its competitive advantage. XPeng positions itself as a \u201cphysical AI\u201d company spanning cars, humanoid robots, robotaxis and flying cars, and wants to define and lead what it calls the \u201cAI car\u201d segment.<\/p>\n

Tang claims only two companies globally have the full-stack autonomous driving technology to compete in it: XPeng and Tesla.<\/p>\n

\"XPengXPeng Australia relaunch: G6X.<\/p>\n

Asked directly whether XPeng wants to outsell Tesla in Australia, Tang didn\u2019t rule it out.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe, because so far we do have some markets where we outsell Tesla, frankly speaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subject to local regulations, XPeng aims to launch its VLA 2.0 autonomous driving system in Australia before the end of 2027.<\/p>\n

Also planned are XPeng ultra-fast charging hubs \u2013 the company claims a 10-80 per cent charge in 12 minutes on its 800V models \u2013 an Australian vehicle-to-grid pilot, and range-extender models alongside battery-electric vehicles.<\/p>\n

Dr Gu said Australia \u2013 roughly the fourth-largest right-hand-drive market in the world \u2013 suits XPeng because the brand performs best in developed markets.<\/p>\n

\"XPengXPeng Australia relaunch: P7.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are doing well in Nordic countries \u2026 in Germany, in France. We actually really appeal to customers who appreciate quality, technology and service.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be a leader \u2026 in terms of mindshare, brand recognition, service quality, and also the level of technology that\u2019s provided to the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nuance in the positioning, though.<\/p>\n

Tang stressed XPeng isn\u2019t a niche play, describing the mission as \u201caffordable technology for all\u201d \u2013 a premium product aimed at mainstream customers who can stretch to it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a familiar equation for anyone who watched Tesla reshape the prestige market a decade ago: technology as the new luxury.<\/p>\n

Asked how XPeng would convince Australians it was here to stay, Dr Gu pointed to the scale of the commitment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not here simply to launch a model or sell some cars,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re investing for the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"XPeng has relaunched in Australia as a factory-backed operation with a promise of five new models within six…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":814610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-814609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}