XPeng's Licensing Engine Is Revving While the Stock Sits Near the Garage Floor
Published on 09/22/2026 at 09:40 | Editorial boerse-global.de
XPeng has spent the past few weeks doing two things at once: rolling out hardware in China and quietly building a business that has nothing to do with building cars. The split-screen nature of that strategy is becoming hard to ignore — especially for shareholders watching the equity hover just above its yearly low.
On September 17, the Guangzhou-based manufacturer launched its flagship G9L SUV in its home market. The five-seater is available with either a pure battery drivetrain or a range-extending combustion engine, and early buyers can lock in an introductory price of 231,800 yuan ($34,300) before standard list pricing kicks in.
Under the sheet metal, XPeng is leaning hard on its own silicon and software. The G9L runs on the company's in-house VLA AI model and is powered by its Turing AI chip — the same semiconductor that drives IRON, XPeng's humanoid robot, for which a dedicated production line opened roughly a week earlier. That overlap is deliberate: the automaker is wiring its robotics work directly into its passenger-vehicle division.
From carmaker to component supplier
Management has no intention of keeping that technology in-house. According to media reports, XPeng plans to widen its licensing and custom-development business to additional international manufacturers, building on an existing partnership with Volkswagen AG. The offering to outside partners is set to span electronic architectures, cockpit systems and the Turing AI chips, rounded out by specialized software for advanced driver-assistance systems. The ambition is clear — stand alongside the traditional vehicle business as a supplier to the global auto industry.
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The numbers suggest the pitch is landing. Service and other revenues surged 93.9% to 2.7 billion yuan in the second quarter of 2026. Volkswagen bought just under 5% of XPeng for about $700 million back in 2023, and Reuters reports the Chinese company is now in talks with further international groups about similar tie-ups. For established automakers, the appeal is straightforward: at VW, the joint development effort cut project costs by as much as 40% by industry estimates.
Right-hand drive heads Down Under
While the G9L was making its domestic debut, XPeng was pushing into overseas markets from the factory floor. On September 11, the first series-produced right-hand-drive G9L units left the Guangzhou plant, bound for Australia. That facility serves as the central production site for country-specific variants.
The overseas shipment is a direct response to the brutal competitive pressure at home. The move into Australia underscores XPeng's push to open sales channels beyond China and raise the brand's international profile. The home market tells its own story: deliveries in China shrank by an estimated quarter in the first six months of the year compared with the same period in 2025.
XPeng is also stepping away from the idea of supplying the world exclusively from Chinese megafactories. To get ahead of trade barriers and import duties, management is assembling a network of local contract manufacturers. Assembly is underway in Graz with Magna Steyr, locally built units recently began deliveries in Malaysia, and in Indonesia the company took a majority stake in a production company.
That geographic spread is starting to show up in the sales data. Outside China, XPeng moved roughly 49,400 vehicles in the first eight months of this year — already surpassing its entire overseas volume for the previous year. Measured against total deliveries, the export share nearly doubled to 19% in the first half.
August deliveries offer a modest lift
The most recent monthly figures point to a moderate recovery. In August 2026, XPeng delivered 39,107 vehicles in total, a gain of 3.71% year over year and 2.84% compared with July. Demand for the company's models is holding steady, yet the challenge remains making the delivery pace profitable against persistent pricing pressure and heavy spending on future technologies.
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Technologically, XPeng is reaching toward what it calls physical artificial intelligence. Days ago it opened an automated production line in Guangzhou for the IRON humanoid robot, which is slated for series production at the end of 2026. Whether two-legged robots and flying vehicles can generate dependable cash flows in the foreseeable future is, for investors, an open bet.
The market isn't buying the story yet
The stock has barely registered the operational moves. The shares changed hands at EUR 9.04 on the day of the G9L launch, down 1.0%, leaving them just 2.6% above their 52-week low. The prior session closed at EUR 9.15, and the equity is down roughly 49% since the start of the year, sitting about 3.9% off its yearly trough.
The transformation from pure automaker to higher-margin tech and licensing provider is underway. Whether the market rewards that metamorphosis now hinges on how quickly intentions turn into signed licensing contracts.
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