Volkswagen and Xpeng have said they are jointly developing two mid-sized electric cars for the Chinese market. The new models will be available by 2026, with the first being an SUV.
As part of a "master co-operation agreement", the companies will jointly look for platforms and components for the cars. In this way, they will achieve production scaling and reduce development costs, Automotive News Europe reported.
Like other "old-school" carmakers, VW is feeling the pressure from Chinese competitors. The collaboration with Xpeng aims to regain market share in China by combining design and engineering innovations to cut development time by more than 30 per cent.
Vehicles produced under the Volkswagen and Xpeng partnership will carry the VW logo. However, the models will be based on a co-development platform and will make extensive use of Xpeng's technical expertise.
Source: Automotive News Europe