The electric vehicle (EV) market is an increasingly global one, with many investors looking at foreign operators as ways to play a continued long-term surge in electric vehicle adoption. One top company that continues to generate interest in this space is Chinese EV maker XPeng (NYSE:XPEV). Today, shares of XPEV stock are making waves, currently trading down roughly 5% in early afternoon trading.
This move follows an announcement of the company’s latest model. Its X9 7-seater EV has been released, with approximately 5,000 orders already placed for the upsized vehicle. Built using the same SEPA2.0 architecture, this vehicle is aimed initially at the Chinese market.
It’s expected this large 7-seater EV will be priced between 359,800 yuan to 419,800 yuan (approximately $50,360 to $58,760), and deliveries are expected to begin right away.
Let’s dive into why XPeng is down on the news and what to make of this announcement.
XPEV Stock Sinks, Despite Product Launch
This so-called multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) is XPeng’s latest attempt to capture market share in an EV market that’s becoming more differentiated. Larger vehicles and those with greater range and battery capacity appear to be the focus for EV makers. Thus, on its face, this announcement certainly seems like a positive for the company in its bid to grow its market share in China.
After all, China is the world’s largest EV market, and also one of the fastest-growing globally. Accordingly, if this model catches on, one would think XPeng is a company that could garner significant interest.
That said, the market may be pricing in concerns about a relatively small initial order amount, the pricing of the vehicle, increased competition in the sector, and how this may affect production of its other core models. While the X9 could certainly be a top seller in its category, it’s also unclear how large this market will ultimately be. Accordingly, the market appears to be taking a cautious approach to this model launch today.
Personally, I think today’s selloff appears to be overblown, at. I’ll have to keep an eye on this stock moving forward and will provide further updates as production ramps up.
On the date of publication, Chris MacDonald did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
