Xpeng CEO personally delivered the Xpeng X9 MPV to Nio's William Li during his visit to Volkswagen Anhui and Nio in Hefei.

(He Xiaopeng (left), chairman and CEO of Xpeng, delivered an X9 MPV to William Li (right), founder, chairman and CEO of Nio, on May 11 in Hefei, Anhui province. Image credit: Xpeng)

William Li, founder, chairman and CEO of Nio (NYSE: NIO), has purchased an Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) X9 MPV (multi-purpose vehicle), a rare choice of vehicle from a competitor.

He Xiaopeng, Xpeng's chairman and CEO, personally delivered a silver Xpeng X9 to Li in Hefei, Anhui province, on May 11, marking the Nio CEO's first purchase of a vehicle from another brand in eight years, according to information shared by Xpeng on Weibo.

Launched on January 1, the X9 is the flagship model under Xpeng's SEPA (Smart Electric Platform Architecture) 2.0 architecture.

The 7-seater MPV has a starting price of RMB 359,800 ($49,800), the highest price for an Xpeng vehicle to date, and deliveries began on January 16.

Xpeng delivered 31,214 vehicles in January-April, with the X9 contributing 9,831 units, or 31.5 percent, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.

Last December, Li said in a phone call to Xpeng's Mr. He, during the first range challenge of Nio's 150-kWh semi-solid battery pack, that he would buy an Xpeng X9 when it became available.

Li jokingly said at the time that he hoped Xpeng would give him a discount. Mr. He responded that he would offer Li a 50 percent discount, but that the discount would come from his own pocket, not from Xpeng.

As of now, Nio's product lineup includes only sedans and SUVs (sport utility vehicles), but no MPVs.

Nio's management mentioned last November that the company would not launch MPVs based on the current Nio Technology 2.0 (NT 2.0) platform, but that it had plans for MPVs on the company's third-generation NT 3.0 platform.

Mr. He was in Hefei on May 11 to visit Volkswagen Anhui and Nio when he stopped by to deliver the vehicle to Li, according to a Weibo he posted.

The Xpeng CEO joked during a visit to a Nio House in Hefei that Nio already has more than 2,400 battery swap stations, and that when that number reaches 5,000-6,000, Xpeng might actually consider joining the system.

So far, GAC Group, Lotus Technology, Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group (JAC), Chery, Geely Holding, and Changan Automobile have announced cooperation with Nio on battery swaps.

Mr. He visited Volkswagen's plant in Anhui province on May 11. On July 26, 2023, Volkswagen announced that it would invest about $700 million to acquire about 4.99 percent of Xpeng, and that the two companies plan to co-develop two Volkswagen-branded EV models for the mid-size car market in China.

The Xpeng CEO said he has visited many car companies' factories before, including Volkswagen's, but it was the first time he had visited a Volkswagen factory this close.

Mr. He took the same high-speed rail to Shanghai with Nio's Li after finishing his trip to Hefei.

($1 = RMB 7.2268)

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