(Yicai) Aug. 20 -- Xpeng Motors will begin mass production of its Level-4 autonomous driving cars next year, according to the Chinese electric vehicle startup’s chairman and chief executive officer.

Xpeng plans to start mass producing vehicles with L4 autonomous driving capabilities and testing its robotaxi services in certain areas next year, He Xiaopeng said during the Guangzhou-based company’s earnings conference call yesterday.

After obtaining regulatory approval, Xpeng will conduct robotaxi trials independently and eventually contact potential partners to explore commercialization options if its tests are unsuccessful, He noted.

In August 2023, Xpeng reached a strategic partnership with Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global to collaborate on robotaxi operations among other projects.

Over the next 18 months, Xpeng aims to improve its urban assisted driving capabilities by dozens of times compared to the industry’s mainstream level, based on Turning artificial intelligence chips and visual-language-action models.

The goal is to achieve Level-3 assisted driving comparable to human driving in terms of safety, full-scenario coverage, and user experience.

Xpeng plans to launch several models based on its Kunpeng Super Electric System, including the X9, in the fourth quarter of this year and release hybrid models both at home and abroad next year.

In the second quarter of this year, Xpeng shrank its net loss by 63 percent to CNY480 million (USD66.8 million) from a year earlier, with revenue surging 125 percent to CNY18.3 billion (USD2.5 billion), according to the company’s latest financial statement released on Aug. 18. Gross profit margin rose to 17.3 percent from 14 percent.

With the launch of the new P7, Xpeng aims to deliver over 40,000 units a month from September, He said.

For the third quarter, Xpeng forecast to achieve revenue of CNY19.6 billion to CNY21 billion and deliver between 113,000 and 118,000 vehicles.

Xpeng’s shares [HKG: 9868] closed up 4.4 percent at HKD80.45 (USD10.30) in Hong Kong today. The company’s New York-listed stock [NYSE: XPEV] rose 4.2 percent to USD20.74 yesterday.   

Editor: Futura Costaglione