Alibaba-backed Xpeng Motors banks $400m from Xiaomi, others

Chinese electric vehicle startup Xpeng Motors announced that it has raised US$400 million in series C funding from a group of strategic investors, including consumer electronics giant Xiaomi.

In addition, Xpeng has also secured several billions in yuan of unsecured credit lines from Chinese and international banks, including China Merchants Bank, China CITIC Bank, and HSBC, according to a statement.

The Xpeng G3 SUV and P7 sedan / Photo credit: Xpeng Motors

“Xiaomi Corporation and Xpeng Motors have achieved significant progress through in-depth collaboration in developing technologies connecting smartphones and smart cars. We believe that this strategic investment will further deepen our partnership with Xpeng in advancing innovation for intelligent hardware and the internet of things,” said Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun.

Xpeng chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng, who also participated in the funding round, said that the company remains committed in investing in core in-house technologies, smart manufacturing, and sales and service capabilities amid market uncertainties.

The company designs and manufactures vehicles that are integrated with the internet, leveraging the latest advances in AI.

It launched the G3 SUV, its first production model, in December 2018. Its second model, the P7 sedan, premiered at the Auto Shanghai show in April 2019 and is set to be delivered to Chinese customers in Q2 2020.

In December 2017, Chinese ecommerce titan Alibaba invested in Xpeng. Though the funding amount was not disclosed, local media reported that Alibaba gained a 10% stake in Xpeng through the deal.

The investment came almost a month after Tencent led a US$1 billion funding round for Nio, Xpeng’s Chinese EV peer. The internet giant also took a 5% stake in US-based Tesla for nearly US$2 billion earlier that year.