XPeng's Strategic Alliance with Volkswagen Fuels Global Ambitions

XPeng partners with Volkswagen on its VLA 2.0 platform, targets 1M annual exports by 2030 after 125% delivery growth in 2025. The EV maker plans to hire 8,000 AI staff.

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer XPeng has secured a landmark partnership with automotive giant Volkswagen, marking the first major client for its next-generation VLA 2.0 intelligent driving platform. This collaboration forms a cornerstone of XPeng's strategy to establish itself as a dominant international player in smart driving technology by the end of this decade. Company leadership has outlined an aggressive target of selling one million vehicles annually outside of China by 2030.

Surging Growth and Aggressive Export Targets

Recent delivery figures highlight the company's accelerating momentum. For the full year 2025, XPeng reported total vehicle deliveries of approximately 429,400 units, representing a staggering year-over-year increase of more than 125%. A significant driver of this growth was a 96% surge in exports. Management views this as merely a foundation, now targeting a doubling of international sales for the current fiscal year 2026.

To achieve these ambitious goals amidst fierce domestic competition, XPeng is rapidly expanding its worldwide distribution network, aiming for a total of 680 global locations. The long-term financial vision reflects this international pivot: the company anticipates that over 70% of its corporate profits will originate from outside China by 2030.

Heavy Bet on AI and Talent Acquisition

Sustaining its technological edge requires substantial investment. XPeng has announced plans to hire an additional 8,000 employees in 2026, with the majority of these new roles focused on artificial intelligence development. This expansion in human capital is designed to accelerate progress on its "Vision-Language-Action" (VLA) 2.0 architecture, a system engineered to deliver more human-like driving behavior and faster reaction times.

These advancements are unfolding in a favorable regulatory climate within China, where barriers to autonomous driving are gradually lowering. Meanwhile, the prohibitive development costs for such systems—often reaching up to USD 1.5 billion—have caused some Western automakers to scale back their highly automated driving programs. In contrast, XPeng is pushing ahead with the commercialization of its AI-powered products.

Market Performance and the Road Ahead

Investors have responded cautiously to these strategic moves. The stock recently traded at €15.05, registering a modest gain of 1.01%. Despite operational progress, shares remain approximately 38% below their 52-week high of €24.30, as the market looks for signs of a stable price floor. The coming year will be a critical test of whether the planned workforce expansion and doubled export targets can generate the necessary momentum to drive sustainable profitability improvements.