Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Xpeng Motors A senior company official said the company remains committed to its long-term European business despite pressure from EU tariffs.
“Our plan for Europe is a very long-term plan,” Brian Gu, vice chairman and co-president of Xpeng Motors, told CNBC’s Charlotte Reed at the Paris auto show on Monday. “
Rethinking the EU’s decision adopt higher tariffs When it comes to China’s electric vehicle imports, Gu said this has put “a lot of pressure” on its business model.
However, he added that the company has a “long-term focus” on the African continent and aims to “find every possible way to solve the problem and improve our competitiveness”.
Gu said Xpeng is currently evaluating multiple aspects of its business strategy, including product range, business model and pricing, while assessing the impact of EU tariffs.
He did not confirm whether Xpeng plans to pass the tariff costs on to customers.
“There are many areas that we are looking at, examining and trying to optimize,” he said.
In the long term, Xpeng Motors plans to become “more local” in Europe and increase its manufacturing capabilities in the region, Gu said.
“Having local manufacturing capabilities is something a company with long-term plans and long-term vision must do, and it’s not because of tariffs or short-term policy changes,” Gu told CNBC.
earlier this month EU votes to approve final tariffs Regarding the import of pure electric vehicles made in China. The development is a major blow to China’s electric vehicle industry, which has been making a major push into Europe over the past few years.
The European Union was the first to announce It will impose higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports in June. At the time, the EU said Chinese companies had “benefited significantly from unfair subsidies” and posed a “threat of economic harm” to European electric vehicle manufacturers.
The responsibilities of individual companies were also revealed, depending on how well they cooperated with the investigation. Temporary tariffs were implemented in early July, but September revision Based on the parties’ “substantive comments on the provisional measures”.
TeslaThe company had expressed concerns about proposed tariffs on its Chinese-made electric vehicles and lowered its proposed tariffs from as high as 20.8% to 7.8%.
Industry costs increase
Gu’s comments were more moderate than those of some peers in China’s electric vehicle industry. On Monday, Stella Li, executive vice president of Warren Buffett-backed electric car company BYD, said the European Union’s planned tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars were based on faulty calculations. She added that the decision was unfair.
“Politicians should stay away from tariffs, which increase the cost of making cars and confuse the industry,” she said in comments published by Reuters at the Paris auto show.
Last month, William Li, CEO and founder of Chinese electric car maker NIO, also criticized EU tariffs. said on the company’s earnings call It considers these obligations “unreasonable” and contrary to “the sustainable development of all mankind.”
The United States has also expressed concerns about China’s impact on the electric vehicle market. May, Biden administration imposes 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicle imports to the united states
One of the biggest concerns expressed by the Biden administration about China’s electric vehicle industry is that it is helping companies overproduce cheap clean energy vehicles and exceed domestic demand, effectively distorting the market.
In response to EU tariffs, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China had previously expressed “deep disappointment” with the EU’s “protectionist trade measures”.
