Xpeng MONA M03 is just the beginning of a new journey.

A decade ago, the global new energy vehicle industry was just starting, and it was widely predicted within the industry that the penetration rate of domestic new energy vehicles would only reach around 25% by around 2025. Pessimists even believed that the penetration rate would not reach 20%. Xpeng, NIO, and Li Auto, which have successively entered the new energy vehicle industry, were also known as the "Three Idiots of the New Forces." Until 2019, they were still ridiculed for only being able to "make cars on PPT."

A decade later, Xpeng, the earliest established among the three, has ushered in its 10th anniversary. Over the past ten years, the successive launches of models such as G3, P7, P5, G9, G6, and X9 have enabled Xpeng to achieve stable monthly sales of over 10,000 units, and everything is heading in a positive direction. However, He Xiaopeng has sounded an urgent alarm.

At the launch event of MONA M03 on August 27, He Xiaopeng stated that the mainstream automotive brands in the Chinese market in the next ten years may be reduced to only seven, including domestic, joint venture, and foreign independent automakers. Annual sales of 1 million AI vehicles will be the entry ticket to the finals.

During the subsequent group interview, He Xiaopeng went on to say that the decline in domestic gasoline-powered vehicles in 2025 and 2026 will be more severe than this year, and to compete for market share, a brutal price war will continue until 2026. In response to the upcoming competition, Xpeng unveiled its plans for the next ten years and presented its sincere new product – MONA M03. Can this new product, which Xpeng has high hopes for, help Xpeng secure a winning start in the new decade?

Smart driving can be 'nationwide usable' with just 150,000 yuan

The specifications of Xpeng MONA M03 have been mostly announced.

The vehicle measures 4780×1896×1445mm in length, width, and height, with a wheelbase of 2815mm. Although it has the "standard" dimensions of an A-class car, it offers a 621L super-large trunk that many mid-size SUVs cannot match. In terms of the infotainment system, Xpeng MONA M03 is equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8155 chip, 16GB of RAM, a smooth and silky system, and support for four-zone voice recognition.

The most surprising aspect is the price of the vehicle. Xpeng MONA M03 is available in three versions: the 515 Long Range Edition, the 620 Ultra Long Range Edition, and the 580 Ultra Long Range Max Edition, priced at 119,800 yuan, 129,800 yuan, and 155,800 yuan, respectively. Standard editions will start delivery in September, while Max editions will start delivery early next year. Pure electric A-class vehicles priced just over 100,000 yuan typically have a range of only 300-400 kilometers, with some reaching around 500 kilometers. However, Xpeng MONA M03 offers a maximum range of 620 kilometers.

Of course, what people are most looking forward to is the smart driving capability. Three years ago, He Xiaopeng said that no automaker could equip a 150,000 yuan car with high-level smart driving capabilities, but three years later, Xpeng has made it happen. MONA M03 comes standard with 2 mmWave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars, and 7 cameras. The standard edition supports L2-level assisted driving, while the Max edition enables high-level smart driving that is "nationwide usable."

Xpeng is the first domestic automaker to achieve mass production of the BEV+Transformer architecture, leading the way from NGP to XNGP. However, Xpeng has now completely overhauled its previous smart driving solutions. MONA M03's smart driving technology is based on an end-to-end AI large model, breaking free from the constraints of rule-based algorithms and adopting a pure vision solution without LiDAR, significantly reducing the cost of Xpeng's smart driving technology. Coupled with extreme tuning for range, MONA M03 consumes only 11.5kWh per 100 kilometers, further reducing battery costs and enabling high-level smart driving capabilities for a 150,000 yuan vehicle.

He Xiaopeng mentioned in the group interview that pure vision solutions can achieve L3-level smart driving, and other models may gradually eliminate LiDAR in the future. However, for L4-level smart driving vehicles, LiDAR will not be eliminated temporarily to ensure safety.

Initially, MONA was announced as an independent brand in Xpeng's promotional materials, but it later became a series within Xpeng. In response, He Xiaopeng explained that all models would use the same system, such as smart driving, and there would be no difference between the P series and the MONA series. Models with or without LiDAR would also use the same end-to-end smart driving solution, so there was no need to create a separate brand.

To develop the MONA M03 model, Xpeng invested 4 billion yuan and spent four years in research and development. Considering its appearance, specifications, dimensions, and other factors, MONA M03 has lived up to the expectations of all Xpeng employees and has the potential to compete with all types of vehicles priced between 100,000 and 150,000 yuan. Just 52 minutes after its launch, Xpeng MONA M03 received over 10,000 bookings, demonstrating its appeal to ordinary consumers.

Xiaotong believes that the biggest significance of the popularity of Xpeng MONA M03 is that it can inspire Xpeng to continue doing difficult but correct things. For example, Xpeng has been dedicated to researching high-level smart driving for many years, often facing limited recognition. It was only in the past two years that other automakers have gradually followed suit, and people began to understand the Sincerely put in a lot of effort behind Xpeng's long-term strategy. However, while Xpeng has achieved certain results, facing a fiercely competitive market and traditional automakers with substantial financial and technological resources, it remains challenging for Xpeng to secure a spot in the finals.

The popularity of Xpeng MONA M03 is bound to boost Xpeng's morale. In the next ten years, Xpeng will have more confidence in continuing its "long-termism" philosophy and moving towards its goal of becoming a "global AI automotive company."

Sticking to long-termism, self-research remains Xpeng's foundation

Facing the next decade, He Xiaopeng proposed three strategic directions at the launch event.

First, adhere to self-research and take a long-term approach.

He Xiaopeng stated that the end-to-end large model significantly enhances the visual perception capabilities of smart driving technology. Xpeng plans to achieve door-to-door smart driving with light radars and light maps by the end of the fourth quarter of this year. By the second quarter of next year, Xpeng aims to achieve L3-like smart driving technology with less than one takeover per 100 kilometers, and in 2026, it aims to enable driving without a driver in some low-speed scenarios.

To accelerate the development of pure vision smart driving technology, Xpeng has introduced the all-new Xpeng AI Eagle Eye vision solution, which can increase perception distance by 125%, improve recognition speed by 40%, and withstand low light, backlight, and large light differences with the support of the LOFIC architecture. This technology will be premiered on the Xpeng P7+ in the fourth quarter of this year.

Perhaps even more significantly, Xpeng's self-developed Turing chip, custom-designed for AI large models, successfully taped out on August 23. This chip features a 40-core processor and dual NPUs, integrating a domain-specific architecture for neural networks. In the field of autonomous driving, one Turing chip can replace three conventional chips.

Based on these technologies, Xpeng can not only enhance various aspects of its products but also optimize costs and alleviate the pressure on Xpeng during price wars.

Second, expand into overseas markets and earn foreign currency.

The Chinese automotive industry started late, and in the past, it could only produce cars through joint ventures with foreign automakers, trading markets for technology. However, the situation has now reversed. Xpeng and Volkswagen have had multiple contacts and collaborations, with Xpeng exporting technology and deeply empowering Volkswagen products. At the same time, Xpeng aims to enter overseas markets, targeting half of its sales from overseas in the next ten years.

This year, Xpeng plans to enter more than 30 countries and regions, develop right-hand drive models, and expand globally with a focus on the European market. However, Xpeng understands that given its current size, the risk of independently establishing factories overseas is too high, and partnering with foreign enterprises is the most prudent approach. During the group interview, He Xiaopeng denied Bloomberg's report about Xpeng establishing factories overseas and stated that the priority is to bring smart driving and supercharging technologies to overseas markets.

In 2023, China surpassed Japan to become the world's largest automobile exporter. Domestic new energy automakers are also accelerating their expansion into overseas markets. Xpeng's collaboration with Volkswagen, leveraging Volkswagen's influence and technological capabilities, may help accelerate its overseas expansion.

Third, invest in flying cars and robots to expand Xpeng's business portfolio.

In addition to exploring new markets, Xpeng is actively developing new businesses. Beyond new energy vehicles, Xpeng's most notable venture is undoubtedly flying cars. The previously announced "Land Aircraft Carrier" will start presales in the fourth quarter of this year.

China's low-altitude economy is developing rapidly, and Xpeng is one of the few new-energy automakers to venture into flying cars. Once low-altitude flight restrictions are lifted, Xpeng, with its early mover advantage, stands a chance to rapidly increase its revenue.

On the other hand, Xpeng is also developing robots and hopes that in the future, Chinese people can enjoy the convenience of new energy vehicles, flying cars, and robot services. At the 1024 Conference in October, Xpeng will reveal more information about its second-generation humanoid robots.

RoboTaxi is also part of Xpeng's plans, but Xpeng will only produce the vehicles and provide them to taxi companies worldwide, not participating in operations. He Xiaopeng even believes that entrepreneurs can purchase dozens of Xpeng vehicles to operate RoboTaxi services.

It is worth noting that Xpeng's pure electric vehicles, flying cars, and robots will all be equipped with Turing chips in the future. Turing chips will be a crucial component in Xpeng's grand blueprint.

Competition in the new energy vehicle industry is intensifying, and even established players may fall behind. Xpeng has chosen to focus on technological research and development, expand into overseas markets, and develop new businesses, aiming to build a solid foundation and enhance its risk resistance capabilities.

Xpeng's financial report shows that its revenue for the second quarter of this year was 8.111 billion yuan, an increase of 60.22% year-on-year. Its net loss attributable to shareholders was 1.285 billion yuan, a year-on-year narrowing of 54.19%, indicating that profitability is within reach. The arrival of Xpeng MONA M03 may become an opportunity for Xpeng to achieve profitability and potentially mark the beginning of its rise to become one of the seven giants.

'The Seven Warlords of the Sea,' Xpeng aims to be one of them

The assertion that 'only seven mainstream automakers will remain in China in the next ten years' is not unique to He Xiaopeng. Industry leaders such as Yu Chengdong, Zhu Jiangming, and Elon Musk have expressed similar views. Xiaotong believes that there are two reasons for this. First, the advent of the Internet era has enabled rapid dissemination of information, allowing automakers with higher influence to further enhance their visibility and accelerate their rise to the top.

Second, the arrival of the autonomous driving era will widen the technological gap between automakers. End-to-end smart driving technology requires a significant amount of data and is not cheap. Yu Chengdong believes that few domestic automakers have the capability to develop autonomous driving technology. Automakers in the second or third tiers will quickly fall behind those in the first tier due to their lack of data.

It is likely that the prediction of seven mainstream automakers remaining in China is already an optimistic outlook. As He Xiaopeng said, annual sales of 1 million vehicles are merely the entry ticket to the finals. China is a vast market with annual sales of up to 30 million vehicles, and automakers with annual sales exceeding 3 million vehicles may be considered giants in the future.

In terms of sales, Xpeng currently cannot compare with traditional automakers. Fortunately, the new energy vehicle industry is still in a rapid development stage, and any automaker still has opportunities. Choosing the right direction can lead to sales breakthroughs.

Many new-energy automakers are busy targeting the high-end market while overlooking the fact that more than 50% of the domestic automotive market share is within the 200,000 yuan price range. Xpeng's launch of MONA M03 is essentially aimed at creating an affordable coupe for young people. With a fixed price, smart driving may not be as important as space or chassis, but if a vehicle offers comparable space and chassis to its peers while also incorporating high-level smart driving capabilities, it will naturally be highly attractive.

MONA M03 has set a promising start for Xpeng's new forces, but whether it will develop as smoothly as Xpeng hopes will depend on the upcoming products from Xpeng's P, G, and X series. In the upcoming fourth quarter, the Xpeng P7+ may bring us more surprises.

Source: Leikeji