On 28 March 2024 XPENG announced its official entry into Germany, with sales starting in May. The models were the G9 and P7, with a third car trailed for the coming months. The distribution sets the brand apart from the other Chinese arrivals: XPENG works through an established dealer network, 24 retail locations across twelve contracted partners at launch, with a roadmap to 120 sites by the end of 2026. Markus Schrick was named managing director. The target was three per cent of the German new-energy vehicle market by the end of the year.
Salvador Caetano Auto became importer and distributor for Spain and Portugal in April. France followed in May with the G9 and G6 and Shunqiang Qiang in charge. Spain and Portugal opened in September with ten dealerships in Spain, two in Portugal, three models and the X2 flying car on the stand. Ireland came in October with Motor Distributors Limited as importer and the G6 leading.
The number that does not come from XPENG
The Center of Automotive Management in Bergisch Gladbach has measured innovation in the car industry since 2005. In 2024 it assessed 359 innovations from 27 premium brands across electric drive, autonomous driving and assistance, and infotainment and connectivity.
XPENG scored 86 points for third place among premium brands behind Mercedes and BMW, and took the class win in autonomous driving and assistance: no other premium brand was as innovative in that field. Across all classes, including volume makers and multi-brand groups, it came seventh.
The most telling detail is in the same release. The X9 scored 42.2 innovation points and came second among individual models, and XPENG notes in the same breath that the X9 is neither sold nor homologated in Germany. The second most innovative car in the study could not be bought in the country.
Caveats in the figures
XPENG’s own texts use both years for the start in Norway. The Ireland release in October says deliveries began at the end of 2020; the Paris release three weeks earlier says 2021, as do the UK and Plugsurfing releases. Either year can be defended depending on what you count.
The Iberian dealers are given as 12 in the bullet list and 10 plus 2 in the body, and the target of 15 by the end of 2025 is not tied to a named market.
The target behind all of it
It sits in the Ireland release: more than 60 markets by the end of 2025, and an ambition that half of total sales come from markets outside China. The markets page shows how far that has got, and what German buyers have since chosen is the story of what the dealer model became.
Images: XPENG
Sources
XPENG: entering Germany with 24 retail locations · 28 March 2024
XPENG Germany: third place in the CAM institute's innovation ranking · 31 July 2024
XPENG: launch in Spain and Portugal · 26 September 2024
XPENG: Motor Distributors Limited named importer in Ireland · 28 October 2024