Hundreds of Volkswagen engineers have begun working at Xpeng's headquarters in Guangzhou, signaling the upgrade of the tech partnership between the two, according to local media.
Xpeng's (NYSE: XPEV) technology partnership with Volkswagen is continuing to advance, with the latter's engineers reportedly starting to work at the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker's campus.
Hundreds of Volkswagen engineers have begun working at Xpeng's headquarters in Guangzhou, signaling an upgrade in the two's technology partnership, local media outlet Jiemian said in a report today, citing an unnamed industry source.
The two sides are working together to cover a wide range of areas and the depth of their cooperation has never been seen before, the source said.
On July 26, 2023, Volkswagen announced it would invest about $700 million to acquire about 4.99 percent of Xpeng.
The two companies planned to co-develop two Volkswagen-branded EV models based on the Xpeng G9 platform for China's mid-size car market.
On February 29, Xpeng said it signed a new agreement with Volkswagen aimed at accelerating the development of joint models and reducing costs through joint sourcing.
On April 11, Volkswagen said it would invest 2.5 billion euros ($2.73 billion) to further expand its production and innovation center in Hefei, Anhui province, and to strengthen its local research and development capabilities.
Volkswagen would produce two Volkswagen-branded models co-developed with Xpeng in Hefei, the first of which will be a mid-size SUV scheduled to go into production in 2026, the German carmaker said on April 11.
On April 17, Xpeng announced that it had signed a framework agreement with Volkswagen for technical cooperation on Electrical/Electronic architecture (E/E Architecture).
The two parties would jointly develop and integrate Xpeng's latest-generation E/E architecture into Volkswagen's China Main Platform (CMP), according to the statement.
The jointly developed E/E architecture was expected to equip Volkswagen-branded EVs built in China from 2026, Xpeng said on April 17.
The partnership is a prime example of a foreign carmaker leveraging technology from a Chinese carmaker in the EV era, and several other carmakers have announced similar moves since then.
On October 26, 2023, Leapmotor said Stellantis NV, Europe's second-largest carmaker by sales, would invest 1.5 billion euros in the company for a roughly 20 percent stake, making Stellantis its largest outside shareholder.
On May 14, Leapmotor announced the formation of its joint venture with Stellantis, Leapmotor International, which would begin sales in Europe in September.
On June 19, Chery announced that British luxury car brand Jaguar Land Rover would build EVs based on its platform, using the latter's licensed Freelander brand.
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Xpeng reportedly to launch at least 4 EVs in 2025, including new models and facelifts