BEIJING — Chinese language electrical automotive start-up Xpeng has launched its most costly automotive to this point, marking the corporate’s foray into the next worth vary.

Shares of the automaker briefly fell by greater than 15% in Hong Kong buying and selling Thursday.

On Wednesday night time, Xpeng introduced its latest automotive, the G9 SUV, will likely be priced from 309,900 yuan ($44,270) to 469,000 yuan. Deliveries are set to start in China in October, the corporate stated.

The worth vary makes Xpeng’s newest automotive usually cheaper than new SUV choices this fall from Nio and Li Auto. Nio’s ES7 sells for 468,000 yuan to 548,000 yuan, whereas Li Auto’s Li 9 lists a worth of 459,800 yuan.

The G9 can be cheaper than Tesla’s Mannequin Y, a mid-sized SUV that begins at 316,900 yuan.

Nevertheless, Xpeng’s earlier vehicles have been priced in a a lot decrease vary.

The corporate’s best-seller up to now, the P7 sedan, prices between 239,900 yuan and 387,900 yuan relying on driving vary. The corporate’s different sedan, the P5, may be purchased for as little as 179,900 yuan.

Xpeng’s authentic SUV, which is now solely obtainable as an upgraded mannequin known as G3i, runs from 181,900 yuan to 201,900 yuan.

For comparability, inside sedans, Nio’s promote for 328,000 yuan to 536,000 yuan. Tesla’s Mannequin 3 begins at 279,900 yuan, after relevant subsidies.

BYD, the dominant native chief in China’s electrical automotive market, sells in a good lower cost vary. The corporate’s common Han sedan runs from 214,800 yuan, after subsidies, to 329,800 yuan.

In all, BYD’s Qin, Han and Dolphin vehicles made the highest 5 best-selling new power passenger vehicles in China for the primary eight months of the yr, in keeping with the China Passenger Automobile Affiliation. That checklist did not embrace SUVs.

Tesla’s Mannequin 3 ranked sixth, whereas Xpeng’s P7 ranked tenth, the affiliation information confirmed.

Considered one of Xpeng’s promoting factors has been its assisted-driving software program. This week, the corporate introduced it’s rolling out the most recent model of the software program — which covers city conditions along with highways — to some customers within the southern Chinese language metropolis of Guangzhou.

Along with assisted-driving software program, the G9 options fast battery charging and what Xpeng calls “an immersive 5D expertise” inside the automotive for watching motion pictures and listening to music. The corporate claimed that after it revealed that in-car expertise in August, it acquired greater than 20,000 pre-orders for the G9 within the first 24 hours of reservations.

“We’re very assured this G9 will likely be a extremely popular SUV in its class,” Brian Gu, Xpeng president and honorary vice chairman, stated in an interview with CNBC’s Eunice Yoon this week.

“We predict the amount of G9 subsequent yr will exceed what we now have achieved for P7, which makes it one in every of our top-selling autos,” he stated.