Xpeng Launches 'AI-Defined' P7 EV to Take on Tesla
Xpeng (NYSE:XPEV) unveiled a new version of its P7 electric vehicle on Thursday, positioning it as an advanced AI-powered sedan aimed at intensifying competition with Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA).
The second-generation P7, described by CEO He Xiaopeng as more than a car, integrates Xpeng's in-house Turing AI chip. The company claims the vehicle is the first AI-defined model, offering autonomous driving features and a conversational voice assistant designed to mimic human interaction.
Warning! GuruFocus has detected 2 Warning Sign with XPEV.
The car targets the same segment as Tesla's Model 3, a key seller in the mid-size EV space. Xpeng said the vehicle's performance and intelligent systems align with the demands of an AI-driven future.
It remains unclear whether the P7 will be sold outside China. However, Xpeng's UK distributor, International Motors, expects to roll out five models in the country by 2028. Current offerings include the G6, G9, and X9 SUVs.
Xpeng shares dropped nearly 2% following the launch. The broader EV market has faced headwinds, with Tesla's China sales reportedly falling 69% year-over-year during the week of May 5 to 11.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The Trump-Musk feud shows danger of handing the keys of power to one person
After a year of effusive praise and expressions of love for each other, Elon Musk and Donald Trump exploded their political partnership in dramatic fashion this week. The highly public split included, among other highlights, the world's richest person accusing the president of the United States of associating with a notorious sex offender. Trump said Musk had 'lost his mind'. As Musk and Trump traded insults, each on his own social network, they also issued threats with tangible consequences. Trump suggested that he could cancel all of Musk's government contracts and subsidies – 'the best way to save money', he posted – a move that would have devastating consequences not only on the tech billionaire's companies but also on the federal agencies that have come to depend on them. Musk responded by announcing that he would begin decommissioning the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that Nasa relies on for transport missions, although he later reversed the decision. While the ongoing episode had the tenor of sensational reality TV, the fight between Trump and Musk once again exposed the danger of putting key public goods in the hands of private companies controlled by erratic billionaires. It highlighted how something like space travel, once a vaunted and collective national enterprise, can now be almost entirely derailed by the emotional whims of a single person. Musk and Trump's partnership had already fueled months of concern about corruption and calls for investigations into the Tesla CEO's use of his position in government to benefit his companies. The breakup has highlighted another risk of Musk's deep ties with the government, where the services that he provides can now become collateral damage in interpersonal disputes. Tens of billions of dollars hang in the balance of their fight. The messy, public way that the clash has played out also serves as a reminder of how unpredictable their decision-making can be. Musk's vow to sideline SpaceX's spacecraft and his reversal, without which the US would have immediately been prevented from reaching the International Space Station (ISS), appeared, for instance, as an emotional lash-out amid a string of other insults against Trump, and it was nearly impossible to discern whether he was serious. 'In light of the President's statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,' Musk posted without warning on Thursday. 'Good advice. Ok, we won't decommission Dragon,' Musk followed up less than a day later, responding to an anonymous user with about 5,000 followers who said he should 'cool off and take a step back for a couple days'. If Musk and Trump's fight ends up disrupting government services or further turning them into political leverage, it will not have come without warning. Ever since Musk refused in 2023 to let Ukraine use Starlink in Crimea to launch a surprise attack against Russian forces, governments have dealt with the uncomfortable reality of Musk's control over global infrastructure. Musk's claim that he could hobble Ukraine's 'entire front line' by turning off Starlink caused a diplomatic incident earlier this year. Meanwhile, European governments have recently rushed to find alternatives to Starlink amid concerns over Musk's unpredictability. While Musk provoked foreign governments and acted as an unaccountable global power broker, the US has by contrast continued to hand him contracts and increase its dependence on his companies. Space operations in particular have become practically synonymous with Musk. Related: Trump and Musk's very public feud is like Alien v Predator for political nerds Since SpaceX won its first Nasa contract in 2006, the government has awarded about $15bn worth of contracts to the company and has come to depend on it for ferrying astronauts and cargo into space. Nasa has also contracted SpaceX for its planned crewed mission to the moon, as well as a mission to explore one of Saturn's moons. Last year, the agency turned to SpaceX when it needed to rescue two astronauts stuck on the ISS. The government's reliance on Musk's empire also extends beyond Nasa. The Pentagon has extensive contracts with Musk, using SpaceX to launch intelligence satellites. SpaceX was also the frontrunner in the Trump administration's plans to build a 'Golden Dome' missile defense shield, which has become a US national defense priority. Starlink, Musk's satellite communications service, had also made inroads into the government to the point that it was installed this year at the White House. Musk is still accountable to market forces and the investors backing his companies, as was made evident on Thursday after Tesla's shares plunged roughly 14% during his dustup with Trump. Musk has previously stated that he is willing to lose money over his ideology, however, and his immense wealth somewhat insulates him against even large shocks to his companies. When Tesla's shares dropped on Thursday, it wiped about $34bn off his total net worth in a single day – yet he remained the world's richest person by a gap of more than $90bn. The extensive reliance on Musk and the privatization of government services has always drawn criticism from ethics watchdogs and some aerospace and defense industry experts, but it appears especially risky now that Musk has threatened to hold certain services hostage. It has also served as a counterpoint to the project of slashing and privatizing the federal government that Musk spent his tenure with the Trump administration carrying out. Musk has furiously campaigned against bureaucracy, courts and regulators as impediments to getting things done, but these also exist as a bulwark against exactly the kind of unaccountable personal power and erratic whims that both he and Trump put on display during their clash.


CNN
42 minutes ago
- CNN
‘This is not over:' Tesla Takedown protesters keep pressure on Elon Musk despite DOGE exit
Demonstrations against tech billionaire Elon Musk are continuing, even after the Tesla CEO stepped away from his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency and engaged in an all-out feud this week with Donald Trump over the president's massive tax and domestic policy bill known as the 'big, beautiful bill.' Musk, who contributed $288 million to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, called the bill a 'disgusting abomination' just days after announcing he would leave DOGE, his federal cost-cutting project. As the two traded jabs, Trump threatened to cut government contracts for Musk's companies and Musk claimed that 'Trump would have lost the election' without him. Anti-Musk sentiment spilled onto sidewalks outside of Tesla showrooms with 60 demonstrations scheduled Saturday in cities such as Delray Beach, Florida; Louisville, Kentucky; and Decatur, Georgia, as part of the Tesla Takedown movement, which began in mid-February amid Musk's role with DOGE. At 11:30 a.m. ET, a crowd of about 30 demonstrators had gathered outside of a Tesla showroom on a rainy morning in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC. Attendance for the Tesla Takedown event was well short of the roughly 200 who showed up last week in Rockville, Maryland, according to local co-organizers Melissa Knutson and Sara Steffens, who cited the weather and Pride Month events for the lower turnout. 'This is not over because (Musk) decided to go home with his tail between his legs,' Knutson told CNN. The Tesla Takedown movement, according to its website, calls on people to 'sell your Teslas, dump your stock and join the picket lines' and believes that 'stopping Musk will help save lives and protect our democracy.' Tesla sales plunged 13% in the first three months of this year, the largest drop in deliveries in its history. Shares of Tesla (TSLA) dropped roughly 14% this week and are down nearly 47% from the high of $488.54 on December 18. Steffens said she 'was really encouraged' to see Tesla's stock plunge this week. 'It just shows none of this is normal,' she said. Musk, the world's richest man, has blamed a drop in sales on overall economic weakness and consumer uncertainty, though sales for competing EV models and other car companies rose. Neither Tesla nor Alex Winter, one of the initial lead organizers for Tesla Takedown, responded to CNN's requests for comment. Musk's exit from DOGE, his now-strained relationship with Trump, slumping Tesla sales and the drop in the company's share price do not mean the Tesla Takedown movement is ending anytime soon, according to attendees and organizers. After Musk announced he was leaving DOGE, the Bluesky account for Tesla Takedown called for protests on Saturday, June 28 (Musk's birthday), as a way of 'recommitting to the fight.' 'We are tired of the billionaire takeover and we are not letting up,' Knutson said. Steffens noted some protesters have called on pension funds to divest from Tesla. The public backlash is part of the reason that long-term institutional investors sent a letter to Tesla's board in late May raising concerns about the company. Many of the protesters in Georgetown on Saturday attended previous demonstrations and said they have no plans to stop protesting despite Musk's departure from DOGE. Jeanne Ferris told CNN that this was her fifth Tesla protest and that she agrees with organizers that 'Musk's tendrils' are still involved with the government. James Decherd said he attends protests almost every week because 'it's nice to be out with other people.' He added that he hopes to 'get people motivated' and 'mobilized.' Donna Powell says she and her husband have attended between 50 and 60 rallies against the Trump administration. She described Musk and Trump as 'billionaire brats having a tiff.' She does not expect Trump supporters to join the demonstrations as an act of solidarity with the president after Musk's attacks on X. She said Trump's base isn't 'the type to go 'anti-Musk.'' 'In the long run, (Trump and Musk) rely on each other, so they'll work something out,' said her husband, Don Powell. CNN's John Towfighi, Anna Cooban and Chris Isidore contributed to this report.


Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
President Trump says Elon Musk could face ‘serious consequences' if he backs Democratic candidates in upcoming elections
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — President Donald Trump is not backing off his battle with Elon Musk, saying Saturday that he has no desire to repair their relationship and warning that his former ally and campaign benefactor could face 'serious consequences' if he tries to help Democrats in upcoming elections. Trump told NBC's Kristen Welker in a phone interview that he has no plans to make up with Musk. Asked specifically if he thought his relationship with the mega-billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is over, Trump responded, 'I would assume so, yeah.' 'I'm too busy doing other things,' Trump continued. 'You know, I won an election in a landslide. I gave him a lot of breaks, long before this happened, I gave him breaks in my first administration, and saved his life in my first administration, I have no intention of speaking to him.' The president also issued a warning amid chatter that Musk could back Democratic lawmakers and candidates in the 2026 midterm elections. 'If he does, he'll have to pay the consequences for that,' Trump told NBC, though he declined to share what those consequences would be. Musk's businesses have many lucrative federal contracts. The president's latest comments suggest Musk is moving from close ally to a potential new target for Trump, who has aggressively wielded the powers of his office to crack down on critics and punish perceived enemies. As a major government contractor, Musk's businesses could be particularly vulnerable to retribution. Trump has already threatened to cut Musk's contracts, calling it an easy way to save money. The dramatic rupture between the president and the world's richest man began this week with Musk's public criticism of Trump's 'big beautiful bill' pending on Capitol Hill. Musk has warned that the bill will increase the federal deficit and called it a 'disgusting abomination.' Trump criticized Musk in the Oval Office, and before long, he and Musk began trading bitterly personal attacks on social media, sending the White House and GOP congressional leaders scrambling to assess the fallout. As the back-and-forth intensified, Musk suggested Trump should be impeached and claimed without evidence that the government was concealing information about the president's association with infamous pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Musk appeared by Saturday morning to have deleted his posts about Epstein. Vice President JD Vance in an interview tried to downplay the feud. He said Musk was making a 'huge mistake' going after Trump, but called him an 'emotional guy' getting frustrated. 'I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that's not possible now because he's gone so nuclear,' Vance said. Vance called Musk an 'incredible entrepreneur,' and said that Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, which sought to cut government spending and laid off or pushed out thousands of workers, was 'really good.' Vance made the comments in an interview with 'manosphere' comedian Theo Von, who last month joked about snorting drugs off a mixed-race baby and the sexuality of men in the U.S. Navy when he opened for Trump at a military base in Qatar. The Vance interview was taped Thursday as Musk's posts were unfurling on X, the social media network the billionaire owns. During the interview, Von showed the vice president Musk's claim that Trump's administration hasn't released all the records related to Epstein because Trump is mentioned in them. Vance responded to that, saying, 'Absolutely not. Donald Trump didn't do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein.' 'This stuff is just not helpful,' Vance said in response to another post shared by Musk calling for Trump to be impeached and replaced with Vance. 'It's totally insane. The president is doing a good job.' Vance also defended the bill that has drawn Musk's ire, and said its central goal was not to cut spending but to extend the 2017 tax cuts approved in Trump's first term. The bill would slash spending and taxes but also leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance and spike deficits by $2.4 trillion over the decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. 'It's a good bill,' Vance said. 'It's not a perfect bill.' The interview was taped in Nashville at a restaurant owned by musician Kid Rock, a Trump ally.