XPeng Revamps Its Marketing System
Chinese electric vehicle maker XPeng has restructured its marketing system by merging the auto trade and user development service teams and establishing over 20 sales regions in China, media outlet Jiemian News reported on March 15.
XPeng has managed to alleviate the cost burden of building stores through its large number of direct and franchise stores. As of Q3 of last year, XPeng‘s store count had surpassed 400, with around 70% being direct stores and 30% being franchise stores.
However, XPeng‘s two channels are operated by separate departments. Direct stores are owned by XPeng‘s auto trading subsidiary, while franchise stores are managed by the user development service center. This division can lead to conflicts of interest that hinder cooperation and create potential risks for front-line marketing, as well as foster unhealthy competition between stores.
XPeng‘s underperforming sales last year were partly attributed to the disorderly state of its terminal sales networks. In 2022, the company was only able to sell 120,700 vehicles, which accounted for 48.3% of its sales target.
During the company’s summary meeting at the beginning of the year, He Xiaopeng, chairman of XPeng, bluntly stated that the company would begin to integrate its auto trade and user development service starting in January, as well as make adjustments to its brand, market, and sales departments.
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Moreover, following the appointment of Wang Fengying as XPeng’s new president in charge of sales, the company has established over 20 sales regions in China, with regional leaders now being accountable for both direct and franchise stores within their respective areas.
Taking charge of the marketing campaign for XPeng’s newly launched P7i, Wang Fengying is applying lessons learned from the challenges faced during XPeng‘s G9 launch last year. To that end, she has reduced the stock keeping units of the P7i to just four models, placing greater emphasis on its intelligent features. Furthermore, the P7i is immediately available for delivery upon launch.
