What is a premium brand anyway?
Chinese car brand Xpeng is the latest version to use the “p” word, which is used by brands from Alfa Romeo to Jeep to Zeekr.
“I think it’s definitely a premium brand given the quality of the car,” said Jason Clarke, CEO of Xpeng’s Australian distributor TrueEV.
Mr Clarke describes Xpeng as a premium brand, although the company has its only product in Australia so far, the G6 mid-size electric SUV, and undercuts rivals from Ford, Hyundai, Kia and others on price. Price starts at $54,800 (excluding on-road costs), more than $20,000 less than the cheapest Hyundai Ioniq 5.
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“You would have seen a number of such car quality brand pyramids in Chinese electric vehicles, and Xpeng is considered a technology-leading slash premium brand,” he added.
Industry analyst Felipe Muñoz of JATO Dynamics recently published a table outlining where he believes a total of 109 Chinese car brands are located. He lists Xpeng alongside Zeekr, BYD’s Fangchengbao (which offers vehicles sold here as Denzas), GWM’s Tank and SAIC Motor’s IM Motors in the “semi-premium” brand category.
In Mr. Muñoz’s eyes, these brands rank below “premium” brands like Denza, but above “super-mainstream” brands like BYD and Deepal.
Of the more than a dozen Chinese brands currently selling vehicles in Australia, only two others – Denza and Zeekr – explicitly describe themselves as premium brands.
“I believe that Xpeng will be successful in most if not all markets because of its positioning. If it was a case of ‘this is a cheap, good quality car’ then I don’t think that’s sustainable and I don’t think that’s Xpeng,” Mr Clarke said.
“I think they’re very differentiated. Their product is prestigious, but it’s so technology focused.”
While the G6 may undercut its mass-market rivals, Xpeng doesn’t sell cheaper vehicles than it – unlike other Chinese brands like BYD, Chery and MG, which still offer sub-$30,000 models as well as more luxurious and expensive vehicles.
Asked what type of vehicles people in Australia were swapping for Xpengs, Mr Clarke said: “We’ve had everything from the new Porsche Cayenne to the Californian Moke. That’s a pretty good range.”
Once they’re in a G6, he hopes they’ll eventually move on to more expensive products like the G6 Performance, the G9L large SUV and the X9 people mover – all of which are due to launch in Australia sometime in 2026.
“I think it helps consumers see more than one model, so we would have liked to have seen more models sooner, (but) that’s a little out of our control,” Mr Clarke said.
“Of course it was quite stressful for us in the beginning to homologate vehicles and get them quickly through the Australian design rules, but we managed that with the G6.
“Having more models creates more trust in the brand. It brings different types of consumers and a different group of consumers.”
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