Xpeng’s circa-$60,000 electric SUV from China tipped to rival Porsche Macan in Australia

The Australian distributor of incoming Chinese electric-car brand Xpeng has claimed its new rival for the Tesla Model Y – the world's best-selling electric vehicle – will be cheaper and "superior".

It believes the SUV – the Xpeng G6 – is a luxury vehicle good enough to rival an electric Porsche Macan or Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV, even though it is expected to cost less than half the price, and Xpeng was only founded a decade ago.

Due in Australian showrooms by the end of this year, the G6 will be the first model sold locally by the Chinese firm, which was established in 2014 and is now expanding beyond China into more European and Asian markets.

The G6 is a mid-size SUV in the same category as the Tesla Model Y, Kia EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ford Mustang Mach-E.

Prices are yet to be locked in, however Jason Clarke, CEO of Xpeng's Australian distributor TrueEV, told Drive the most affordable model is planned to undercut the Model Y locally, which starts from $60,900 plus on-road costs.

Australia will initially get only the base rear-wheel-drive variant – with 435km of WLTP-rated driving range – followed by two costlier models with more power and longer driving ranges in 2025.

Xpeng cars will be sold in Australia through its website and a selection of 'experience centres' – at fixed prices – and will come from the factory in China in right-hand drive, with order books for the G6 due to open in September, he said.

Speaking to Drive about how the Xpeng G6 will be positioned in Australia, Mr Clarke set lofty ambitions for the cars TrueEV thinks it will rival – and took aim at electric-car brands BYD and Tesla.

"There's currently a price war that everyone's aware of on EVs. We don't really want to be part of that. That race to the bottom for those vehicles, I don't think that's good for them, and I don't think we need to [compete there]," he told Drive.

"The Xpeng vehicles are positioned as premium so they're luxury cars, and that's the design quality, the build quality that we've been attracted to [as an importer], and the feature set's fantastic.

"The price point is still to be resolved, but certainly for Australian consumers – this sounds like a trite line – but you'd be able to get into a higher quality EV than a Model Y at a better price point."

Asked to clarify if undercutting a Tesla Model Y is the aim, Mr Clarke said: "For the base model ... [but] I think the design, build and features will position it as a higher-quality offer."

"Our task is to build a brand so people see that. The car really speaks for itself, but in our marketing, we have to try and secure the hearts and minds of consumers.

"It's feature-rich, and I would say a superior product to a Tesla Model Y – certainly a [Model] 3. I can't confirm the price point [yet] but you're there [with the estimate]."

When asked by Drive which vehicles the Xpeng importer sees as rivals for the G6, Mr Clarke said: "That's a good one ... You'd position it against a [Porsche] Macan, Mercedes EQE [SUV], maybe a [BMW] X3?

"That's really what it has to outsell. But of course the Tesla Model Y in that mid-size SUV segment. That's a range of different cars, but that's what we're up against."

To the end of April this year, sales of these models tally 969 for the current petrol Macan, 403 for the EQE SUV, and 1114 BMW X3s, across petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric variants.

The executive said the importer – which began discussions with Xpeng head office in China a year ago – aims to sell "thousands of cars in year two" of operation, eventually intending to break into the top five selling electric-car brands in Australia.

While the Xpeng importer's claims are bold, overseas reports allege the larger Xpeng G9 was benchmarked against the Porsche Cayenne during its development – and the firm has signed a deal to co-develop electric cars for the Chinese market with Porsche parent Volkswagen.

Mr Clarke acknowledged the price of the Xpeng G6 – in its cheapest form projected to be less than $60,900 – would see it cross-shopped with similarly-priced models from Hyundai, Kia, Ford and others.

"We are [closer to those cars on price], yeah. And that's going to be the difficulty in the messaging, that's OK," he said.

"We look at what Xpeng do in Europe with the position and ... they have the same competitor set ... [but] there it's rarely on price.

"What we have to do is build out that brand of tech-savvy young families, upwardly-mobile people who want that new tech, but [want to] have it in a luxury setting, as opposed to say a BYD which looks good here in Australia, but it's pretty much a taxicab in China. It's a regular car.

"When we look at the price point of [the Porsche] Macan, I think the EV version is going to be like $120,000, $130,000. We're nowhere near that [on price] but I will say [Xpeng has] a pretty similar feature set."

In Europe, the Australia-bound G6 RWD Standard Range is powered by a 66kWh lithium-iron phosphate battery and single 190kW/440Nm rear electric motor, good for 435km of claimed WLTP driving range.

It is expected to be available in multiple equipment levels locally, Mr Clarke suggested.

Due in 2025 are RWD Long Range and AWD Performance models, which share an 87.5kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt battery.

The rear-drive Long Range uses a single 210kW/440Nm rear motor for a 570km WLTP range, while the all-wheel-drive Performance boasts dual motors with 350kW/660Nm, a 550km WLTP range and 0-100km/h in four seconds.

Fast charging at up to 215kW is claimed for the Standard Range, or 280kW for the Long Range and Performance, for a 10 to 80 per cent recharge in a claimed 20 minutes across the line-up – due to the different battery sizes.

A five-star ANCAP safety rating is being targeted for the G6, Mr Clarke said.

Left-hand-drive Xpeng G9 and P7 models have been awarded five stars in Europe under the latest Euro NCAP crash-test protocols.