XPeng model expansion looming for Australia

The budget-buy XPeng Mona M03 Tesla Model 3 fighter and P7+ family EV are on the verge of confirmation for Australia.

Only recently on sale in China, both vehicles are about to undergo an Australian testing and homologation process as part of an ambitious Australian sales and model roll-out plan.

One of more than a dozen Chinese brands launching in Australia by mid-2025, XPeng – via its local distributor TrueEV – is planning to have a five-model range on sale here by the end of 2026 and to achieve 25,000 sales in the 2027 calendar year.

“That’s what we’d like to get to,” TrueEV CEO Jason Clarke confirmed to carsales moments after officially opening the flagship store in Sydney’s Mascot domestic airport precinct.

“People go ‘is the guy kidding himself?’ but have look, we are serious. This is a big thing.

“XPeng is here fully fledged in Australia now,” Clarke declared. “State-of-the-art showroom, state-of-the-art vehicles.”

While XPeng’s sales targets pale against the Toyota-tackling ambition of fellow Chinese brand BYD, it’s a number that would still place it on the fringe of the Australian sales top 10.

That also reflects the relative positions of XPeng and BYD. The former sold 30,000 vehicles last month and the latter 500,000.

Right now XPeng has only one model on sale in Australia, the G6 electric SUV rival for the Tesla Model Y.

It is sold in two variants, the $54,800 Standard Range and $59,800 Long Range (both prices plus on-road costs), both of which undercut the Model Y.

Buoyed by local depositer interest, Clarke estimated G6 sales could reach more than 5000 in 2025, basically matching expectations for the EV5 medium electric SUV of one of Australia’s outright biggest brands, Kia.

Achieving that volume will be aided by the addition of the flagship G6 AWD Performance in 2025. The X9 electric people-mover is also confirmed for 2025.

The G9 SUV will be added in late 2025 or early 2026. It was originally planned to arrive ahead of the X9 but has been delayed.

That’s because TrueEV has elected to wait for the second-generation model, which crucially will add a third row of seats to make it a better rival for large seven-seat SUVs like the Hyundai Santa Fe and Toyota Kluger.

Close to confirmation for 2026 are the Mona M03 sedan and the recently launched large P7+ family EV.

While the X9 and G9 have both been on or close to the confirmation list for Australia all year, the decision to add the Mona M03 and P7+ is relatively fresh.

Left-hand drive versions of the M03 and P7+ will soon be in Australia for testing and research.

“They are earmarked; we have to prove demand,” said Clarke. “Demand here is very different to China.

“We want it [M03 and P7+], we think it will work and they are sending out engineers; we are doing the homologation planning and all that work just to make sure we can get that through,” he added.

The M03, which is priced from the equivalent of $25,800 in China, is a 4780mm front-wheel drive liftback with a maximum CLTC (China Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle) range of 620km via its 62.2kWh BYD LFP battery. It has a choice of 140kW and 160kW e-motors.

The P7+ is priced from the equivalent of $41,000 in China. It is 5056mm long and at launch powers the rear wheels via a choice of 180kW and 230kW e-Motors. Range is up to 710km CLTC courtesy of a 76.3kWh LFP battery.

The P7+ is not closely related to the P7i sedan, which has been on sale in China for some years and has been part of local displays as well. It is not expected to go on sale in Australia.

Clarke was also non-committal about expanding the local line-up to include XPeng’s range extender hybrid powertrain models, which commence launching in China in 2025.

“I’m no fan of hybrid personally,” admitted Clarke.

“[But] if the demand is there, we would probably do it,” he said.

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