XPeng Inc. (XPEV) Earnings Call Transcript

I'm feeling very happy today because it is January 1, 2024, which marks the first day of the year. I'm excited to be able to gather with our MC and [ Mr. Lee Ray ] and many of you in Guangzhou as well as connect with viewers online. Now today, we have a special concert and press event planned, and we hope to make it lively and enjoyable for everyone. Our goal is to spread happiness and joy as we welcome the new year. Today also marks the first product launch event in the auto-making industry for the year of 2024. Now lately, we have witnessed many well-organized product launches that have showcased a lot of innovative cars such as Huawei's M9, ZEEKR'S 007, Xiaomi's SU7, including our XPeng's X9 that you will see today, and soon, Li Auto's new product. I think that there are many amazing products being released lately. This is due to the advancement in technology, which are bringing great changes to the industry. It's great news for everyone to have access to these new and improved products. Since 2019, Xiaopeng has been releasing a new car every year from G3, P7, P5, G9, G6. And now in 2024, we expect to release multiple cars. Today, the first car of 2024, the X9, is officially coming to the market. And before the introduction, I wanted to review 2023 with you. So my first question to you all is, how was your 2023? How was it? Good. I believe that many of you experienced both happiness and challenges in 2023. I would like to share with you my experience with XPeng Motors during the past year. Now it wasn't easy. At the beginning of 2023, XPeng was facing a major crisis. Now if you recall, we delivered only 5,000 vehicles in January. Sometimes working hard alone is not enough, you need to think and act accordingly. Therefore, it's essential to revise your goals constantly during the process to achieve them more accurately, and that's how we were able to come out of the tunnel in 2023. And because so many of you cared about us and because so many XPeng staff persisted in their choices and worked hard to find a way, we came out. From January, February, and March of 2023, our total delivery was 18,000 units. But in the last quarter, which was the fourth quarter of 2023, we reached 60,000 units. I told everyone at XPeng that the upcoming 3 years, 2024, 2025, and 2026, would definitely be the most competitive 3 years for China's auto-making industry, but it will also be the 3 years with the most opportunities. I believe that we'll all see many cool AI technology products in the coming 3 years. And I think this is something that we must do well in the upcoming 3 years. And as a company, our goal is to address our shortcomings and build on our strengths. This means that we need to improve our technical and product research and create better products. From my perspective, today, I'm excited to announce the launch of 2 new cars. Now these 2 cars look identical, but their capabilities differ significantly. Now the reason why I said there are 2 different cars is because X9, when it was designed, we considered 2 needs. The first one is that it is a large 7-seater Smart MPV that can accommodate a family of 7 people. However, that's not enough. We recognize that 90% of the time, we only need to transport 2 to 4 people maybe. Therefore, most of the time, X9 also functions as a large Smart 4-seater SUV that comes with agile maneuvers and a spacious strong compartment. This makes it perfect for those who love to travel and explore new places. We are proud to present these cars as a New Year gift. Are you excited? Yes. Let's review the gift on the right. [Presentation]

In fact, the X9 is designed as a family car. Our hope is that it will become a new friend for every family. However, a major drawback of these cars is that they are not needed actually most of the time. Usually, people use their cars alone or with only 2 to 4 passengers. To solve this problem, the X9 car model has a one-click transformation feature that hides the third row of seat into the floor, converting it into a spacious 4-seater SUV. This innovative design is a great solution for people who want the benefit of a 7-seater car without sacrificing the convenience of a smaller car for everyday use. So it doesn't only accommodate a group of 7 people for occasional travel, but also, as a large 4-seater, it's very practical if you want to carry a lot of luggage or camping equipment or engage in cycling or golfing with friends. So that's why we are launching this dual purpose vehicle. It is more comfortable than an MPV and more flexible than an SUV. It was designed with both a large 7-seater and a super large 4-seater SUV in mind, making it a car that can transform to meet different needs. This definitely is a very unique logic that other cars do not have. How did we go about designing this car? Now firstly, I often ride in 7-seater cars and have occasionally driven them in the past. I wonder how many of you here often drive 7-seater cars? My point is that many people drive 7-seater cars, and experience is characterized by weak acceleration, slow response, and average brakes. Secondly, there's the general MPV, which we all know is a square box. So when you're behind the wheel, it can feel like you are more of a chauffeur than the actual owner of the vehicle. So when we were developing the X9, I told my design team that my only requirement was to make it unique and visually appealing. It was very simple. And I'm very proud to say that the final shape of the X9 is closely related to me. We created a lot of different drops at that time. And I remember taking a piece of paper and drawing some curves, and I asked if the curves could be turned into the shape we want it. Maybe it was because I was a boss. But in the end, our design team selected the shape as the winning design. And I want to thank our designers for their hard work. To me, X9 looks like a starship from a sci-fi movie. When I was a child, I loved watching Transformers or Saint Seiya. And I always wondered if we could make a car that looked as cool as a starship with the sharp bevels and steel that looks really cool. Also, as I mentioned earlier, driving a 7-seater car can be quite unpleasant and unresponsive. Therefore, my main requirement for the car is that it should be fun and easy to drive. And the X9 meets this requirement as it has very good acceleration, braking, steering, and turning capabilities. An active rear-wheel steering is a standard configuration on X9 which is very useful when navigating through narrow streets and alleys, especially in cities like Beijing and Guangzhou. This feature makes turning corners and navigating tight spaces much easier and more comfortable. An X9 is a very versatile SUV that can be driven by anyone regardless of the agenda or driving experience. Now space. A spacious area is necessary inside the X9, requiring the construction of a huge flat floor. There, I'm going to demonstrate this when X9 is turning to a large 4-seater. Essentially, the vehicle must be able to seamlessly transition between practical use of 7 seats and the daily frequent use of 4 seats. And also, the third row, it is very important when it comes to the overall comfort. It is not only spacious but also comfortable thanks to the electric reclining feature, cup holder and charging port. Now many MPVs in China have third rows, but they lack comfort and also features that the second row is equipped with. That's why third row passengers is jokingly referred to as the less powerful. So for X9, we aim to change that by significantly improving the comfort and usability of the third row seat so that everyone can feel empowered. Now I would like to introduce several unique capabilities to X9. The first one is companionship. This is essential as part of our life and also our professional life. However, the bond of companionship is stronger when it comes to family. The internal area of the X9 is 7.7 square meters, which is equivalent to a relatively small guest bedroom in many families. Typically, they are around 7 to 10 square meters. It is 12% larger than Alphard's and has a height of 1,315 millimeters in and out of the third rows. This means that it is 75 millimeters taller than the Alphard's, allowing people to easily get in and out without having to bend down too much. Now [indiscernible], my friend, is a sports expert who loves to carry a lot of equipment when he travels with the family. And our car can allow each single one of the passengers in the 7-seater to carry a 24-inch luggage, making it perfect for his needs. This means that there is enough space for quality companionship. Now the second feature is called transformation. Now as you can see in the video, the vehicle can actually transform into a large 4-seater SUV with just one click. And when transformed, the floor of the vehicle becomes completely flat. To give you an idea of how much space is available, most passenger cars such as sedans or small and medium-sized SUVs, the trunk space is over 400 liters. The bigger ones like GLS or Audi's Q7, they have a trunk space of over -- or about 600 to 700 liters, and that's already top of the class. However, when X9 transforms into a 4-seater, the luggage compartment becomes much larger at 1,846 liters, almost 3x the space of other SUVs. This is enormous. What can it hold? It can hold up to 5 bicycles. Now as a cyclist myself, I know the struggle of having to hang a bike on the back or put it up right on the roof of the car. Did you know that putting it on the roof is extremely difficult. When traveling overseas, European cars must be able to hang things inside and on the rack, but there aren't many cars like that in China. Fortunately, with the X9, you can easily invite friends over and tell them to put their bikes in your trunk without any problem. X9 can also hold up to 15 golf bags. Now many friends like to take the whole family to play golf, including -- you have to take the bags of the father, mother, and children and also some spare equipment. However, many cars are not big enough to fit all of those. In the past, some of our car owners have mentioned that it was difficult to fit 2 or 3 golf bags in their cars when going to play golf. So with X9, the trunk can actually hold more than 15 golf bags. What else? It can actually hold 29 20-inch suitcases. Now obviously, when you drive around, typically, it's very unlikely that you need that many luggages. However, if you plan to go camping, that space can be very useful. Now one of my -- our colleagues had very creative idea and said that this car can actually hold multiple Golden Retrievers. Well, as a child, I grew up with many dogs and cats as pets, but we didn't have a car back then. If we did, when you have to put large dogs -- for example, I used to have a wolfdog. If you put them in the back seat, they would be painful because the back is very narrow. If you put them on the third row, you might get worried because the third row can get dirty. So with X9, you can simply pull the third row under the floor and spread a floor mat to accommodate all of those furry passengers you could ever want. So don't be afraid to go big. This car can definitely handle it. Now I also mentioned earlier that X9 is not only just big, spacious, but also, it comes with other features as well. It's huge and it's like a small bedroom. So that means that it has a refrigerator, a color TV, a sofa, and a stereo system. So therefore, it comes with an intelligent refrigerator that has the capability of automatic opening and closing. It also has integrated heating and cooling system from 0 to 50 degrees Celsius. The refrigerator is the largest in its class with a volume of 10.8 liters. It also boasts a large screen of 21.4 inches. The screen can be rotated with the degree from 0 to 75 degrees, providing the best view and experience to passengers in different seats and angles. Now in the past, I did not enjoy the second row screen in Alphard because they were small, inconvenient to watch, and always very odd because of the odd angles. And X9 actually solved that problem. It offers the best viewing experience. What else do you need in the home, central AC? Now we also are the first car with a built-in central AC system. The reason for this is because some people like me catch cold very easily when the wind just blows on my back. Maybe it's because I'm older now; I'm over 20 years old. Well, also, my mom always refused to face the wind just to avoid catching a cold. Therefore, I believe that anyone who spends a lot of the time in the car needs an AC that is not sensitive, but can keep them cool or warm and comfortable. So that's why we have this hidden AC. Speakers, sunshade, and also ambient light, everything is hidden. So when you sit in the second row or the third row, please look up. You'll notice that besides the sunroof, there actually is a hidden AC system. It is very comfortable and gentle when the wind blows and is not too hot during the summer. This is a very great feature, very gentle, and I think that MPVs with central AC will become more popular in the future, possibly even a standard feature. Now apart from companionship, mobility is also important. X9 is a 7-seat MPV and a large 4-seat SUV that provides both companionship and mobility. Whether you're camping, shopping, or exploring wilderness, X9 can meet your needs. It is the only MPV in the world that comes standard with active rear wheel steering. It allows for a minimum turning radius of 5.4 meters. You can see this is even smaller than the turning radius of the [ Smart ]. This is incredibly agile. If you test drive the X9, you will be impressed by its steering, suspension, and also agility. But in particular, steering is the most important aspect of an MPV. Today, I saw an X9 test car in front of us on the road, and I was riding in a G6. The X9 driver was making a U-turn and smoothly transitioned to the second lane on the opposite direction without any difficulty, which is almost impossible with most MPVs. In fact, in Beijing, my driver had to make a turn on the left most lane when it was making a U-turn in the opposite direction and he had to back off a little and come back and make another turn. But with the X9, such difficulties are gone. Secondly, intelligent dual chamber, as was mentioned, also comes as a standard configuration in all models. Many people don't actually understand what it means. To give you an example, let's consider speed bumps. They're very common. And typically, when you are driving at a speed of 15 to 30 kilometers per hour, when you pass over those speed bumps, you often hear a low noise in many cars. However, with dual chamber air suspension, you can pass over these speed bumps smoothly and very fast. Also driving at highway can be very tiring. But with dual chamber air suspension, you feel comfortable vertically and horizontally. It can help you feel less tired at highway driving, reducing the risk of fatigue-related accidents. We are working on developing an advanced smart air suspension system for X9 which we plan to upgrade via OTA to all X9 models in the future. Now our primary focus has always been on safety, especially when we're developing family cars because they carry our loved ones. Therefore, we are committed to providing the highest level of safety in X9. Let's take a look. Now X9 is a globally safety standard design that meets the collision standards of China, United States, and Europe. It's also the world's first MPV to have integrated aluminum die casting at the front and rear. Now many people might wonder what that is. In our case, it means that our rear floor is formed in one-go using a 12,000-tonne die casting machine. This process makes the car lighter and improves its torsional strength and rigidity. Additionally, it saves on costs, including future maintenance, which is a great plus. Now to explain further, I want to actually share 2 details because it's too technical. The first is about how X9 is able to accommodate a third row of seats that can be folded into the floor. One of the key projects that make this possible is the ultra large integrated compression. Now we're not only putting the world's largest 12,000-tonne integrated die casting machine into practice, we're also developing a 16,000-tonne integrated machine. This has resulted in X9 having a torsional stiffness of 46,000, which is a first among all of the models that we've seen in the market. Let me put it in perspective because the number is too technical. Now we feature a unique submarine-grade thermoformed door knocker design, which provides the exceptional strength and rigidity to the car. This design can actually hold the roof of the car like 5 elephants standing at the same time or 300 people. So you can see the overall stiffness really sets it apart from other cars. Apart from its strong passive safety features, active safety is equally important in a car. X9 has numerous active safety features, and one of them is AEB now , which also can help avoid accidents. AEB activations by all of our cars last year totaling 118,000 times, each time avoiding a potential accident. In 2024, our XNGP's new technology will actually empower passive AEB, enabling a comprehensive upgrade of active safety and delivering XPeng's next-generation AEB. I would like to share actually 2 views of mine on AEB. Firstly, reducing false triggers is crucial for AEBs. While it aims to protect everyone, accidental triggers can cause unnecessary panic and be unsafe. So for us, safety is our top priority. Therefore, rejecting false alarms or false triggers of AEB is necessary before we can upgrade it in 2024. Secondly, we want to make AEB the best in China, even without LIDAR in the Pro version. So we do not want to depend or rely on LIDAR, the hardware. We are using our technology to upgrade our technology and experience. We're relying on XPeng's new XNGP to achieve this, which can be enabled in both Pro and Max versions. In my opinion, safety is the most important aspect of our product, however, the head of our Product Matrix team is more focused on health. He believes that we actually have misunderstood the important features of MPV. According to him, the most crucial thing is that it should not emit any odor or should not cause discomfort to children. In the case of X9, it's design is such that it prevents airborne substances like benzene or formaldehyde by 55x more than the international standards. I believe that the leader of our Product Matrix team is very health conscious, perhaps because he has children in his family. When he designed the product, he considered the fact that it would be used on a daily basis for households. Therefore, he ensured safety was a top priority, and I want to emphasize that for every one of you to consider. So that's about our safety. Let's talk about perseverance. When it comes to electric cars, that means driving range. Now we can actually look at how today's MUVs compare to, for example, hybrid and gasoline cars from the past. Now in the past, gasoline cars or ICE vehicles were the most convenient option. And in today's world, hybrid cars have become more convenient than BEVs. Nevertheless, pure electric vehicles are becoming increasingly mainstream and many people who own hybrid cars have said that the next car that they're going to buy would definitely be BEVs. This is because they used to worry a lot about slow charging, no place to recharge, or insufficient driving range. However, after driving a hybrid car for a while, they discovered that actually, pure electric vehicles, especially the ones like XPeng's products, are very solid in terms of the driving range. It's going to solve all of their concerns. Therefore, we'll continue to develop electric vehicles that have a longer range, lower travel costs, and require less frequent charging per week. So in response, I suggested our X9, which has a maximum driving range of 702 kilometers and comes standard with 800-volt charging. And we are known for our solid driving range. And also, we can charge for 10 minutes, and it can increase the driving range by 300 kilometers. If you look at the recent NAF Summer Test conducted in Norway, our G9 and P7i models won the championship and runner-up positions, respectively. Now this driving range test is known for its strict requirements in both summer and winter conditions. Moreover, actually, many Norwegian people praised our driving range. And someone says that, "Well, why do you have false claims because your actual real driving range is longer than what you claim to be?" However, XPeng really aims to maintain our consistent standard for driving range for all of our models, including X9, G9, P7i, and G6. We believe that a long driving range is not enough; a complete charging network is also necessary. By -- in 2023, we laid out 406 charging stations. And actually, on a daily basis, we recorded 450,000 journeys of more than 500 kilometers in our network. This means that driving 500 kilometers a day using our car is not a challenge at all. So our goal is to have more than 10,000 self-operated, self-branded charging stations by 2026, which will help all of our customers charge their cars quickly and conveniently. Now apart from the solid driving range, our XNGP technology is also a significant factor that sets it apart from other EVs and is the reason why people chose our products. Now actually, I would like to share a story with you about XNGP. A friend front of ours, [indiscernible], not only our car owner, but also an emergency doctor. He owns our P7, and oftentimes, he works night shift and long hours, which can be exhausting. And he would always choose to drive home in our car with XNGP. This goes to show that XNGP can make life easier for everyone, and we aim to continue to do so. Now today, I'm very proud to announce that, in 2023, we are the first company in China to offer city-level assisted driving in 52 cities. We're the only car maker that are able to deliver that. Now it is very important to note that just because a car has multiple CPUs, radars, and cameras, it doesn't necessarily have autonomous driving. While these features provide their hardware for autonomous driving, the soul of it lies in AI, software, and experience. We've noticed that many cars don't even have upgraded their experience because they have issues with the software and AI. So why can XPeng quickly adopt new technology? It's because of our focus, persistence and ability to find the right path. It is evidenced in the fact that we can be the first to launch these capabilities with very light dependence on high-definition maps or radar. That is why we can actually roll out in 52 cities. We've also received many inquiries from people in other cities asking when we will arrive. Some have even said that they will buy our product and experience XNGP if we come to their city. Therefore, we're working to accelerate the XNGP rollout and bring them to more cities as soon as possible. So here's your surprise. We have accelerating the rollout. Our original plan is to launch in 200 cities by the end of this year, 2024. However, we are very excited to announce that we will be reaching our goal of covering 243 cities 1 year ahead of schedule. Now this is not an empty promise. We are actually rolling out tomorrow. I believe that we're making history in China with our autonomous driving technology, and this achievement will be remembered by all. Starting from January 2, 2024, we will be rolling out in 243 cities across the country. This is our new year achievement. Our aim is not just to be first in terms of the number of city rollouts, but also to prioritize the experience we provide for our customers. This year, we're planning to exceed last year's speed in our OTA in China and also bring more surprises to our customers. We're not limiting ourselves in China alone, we also plan to implement XNGP, how we feature in more countries, starting with Europe. Ultimately, our goal is to make it available globally in the coming few years. Our fully automatic parking feature will also be available to all of our users OTA by end of the year. With this new technology, instead of having to manually park your car, the vehicle actually will automatically park itself as soon as it detects a parking space. Now we understand that larger and wider cars can face certain difficulties with autonomous parking. Therefore, in the first half of the year, we're going to introduce an automatic parking in and out feature. This means that even when you are outside of the car, the vehicle will still park itself both in and out of parking space. This new feature is a significant upgrade, especially for X9. I also want to let you know that X9 will come with the XOS Tianji 5.0 intelligent OS. This year, we'll start upgrading more models with the system. This Tianji cockpit system, which is very smart, is also worth mentioning. It introduced a split screen display for the first time. It covers all the one-click full screen XR for driving, traveling, and parking additionally, where voice assistant will be upgraded to an AI voice assistant as well. We are not merely showcasing our marketing-level sort of functions using our large language models. Actually, we will truly introduce and adopt this brand-new technologies in autonomous driving and autonomous smart cockpits as well. You can definitely expect valuable experience upgrade. Therefore, X9 is more comfortable than an MPV and more agile and flexible than an SUV. We pay attention to every detail and make every effort to improve our car owners' experience. Let me just first talk about different variations. Now we actually do not offer multiple options other than the driving range, either Max or Pro. Because everything else is essentially the same and they come standard, including, for example, active rear wheel steering, dual chamber air suspension, one-click transformation, and also the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 chip, a 21-inch entertainment screen, refrigerator with hot and cold features, central AC, and also integrated aluminum frame body. All of them will come standard. Yesterday, we announced on our official website that the presale orders for X9 has already exceeded 30,000. Today, we had a meeting where our team expressed their challenges. They said that there has been a huge surge in orders today and asked what they should do. Now our biggest challenge at the moment is production capacity. I informed my colleagues that we should not expect any rest even during the Chinese New Year. We must work tirelessly in January and February in order to produce the cars as soon as possible so that we can deliver on time. I believe that X9 will become a transformative force in China's MPVs and 4-seat SUVs, and I am excited for it to become the king of kings. Today marks the 10-year anniversary since XPeng entered the auto-making industry. A decade is a considerable amount of time. And as the saying goes, it takes 10 years to sharpen a sword. Over the past decade, we've accomplished many challenging tasks, but we remain confident that it was the right decision to undertake them. We strive to be technology-driven and focused that generally contribute to the field. We believe that technology can enable China's top-notch technologies and products to reach both China and the rest of the world. The past decade has seen significant changes and I did not anticipate that new energy vehicles would progress to the current stage a decade ago. This is a major shift that we are excited about, and we are eager to introduce more high-tech, innovative, and unique products to everyone in the next 10 to 20 years. Thank you again so much to all of you, both online and offline, who have spent your precious time following us, watching us. Thank you. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]