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Alibaba-backed Xpeng gets go-ahead to assemble its own electric cars, heating up Tesla challenge
- Guangzhou-based Xpeng’s newly opened electric car factory runs more than 260 industrial robots
- The roll-out and delivery of Xpeng’s new P7 sports car is expected to start at the end of June
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Xpeng Motors has received government permission to independently assemble its electric vehicles, months after it acquired a local car maker, as the start-up moves into a higher gear to challenge Tesla in China.
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The manufacturing licence, granted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, enables Xpeng to soon start large-scale production of its P7 electric sports car at its new highly automated plant, according to an Xpeng statement on Tuesday The factory opening followed Xpeng’s recent acquisition of Guangdong Foday Automobile Co.
The factory, which runs more than 260 industrial robots, is located in Zhaoqing, a city that is about 110 kilometres northwest of Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong province and home base of Xpeng.
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Despite the Covid-19 crisis, start of production at the Zhaoqing plant “is further validation of the strength and robustness of our organisation”, said He Xiaopeng, co-founder, chairman and chief executive of Xpeng, in a statement on Tuesday.
The six-year-old Xpeng, which also has offices in Mountain View, California, expects to roll out and deliver the first batch of P7 cars from its smart manufacturing facility by the end of June, the company said.
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