Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng Motors is ??? ?? ?? ???in the early stages of researching where it can build a production facility in the European Union as part of a strategy to reduce future costs caused by tariffs imposed by the European Commission. That’s according to chief executive He Xiaopeng who spoke to Bloomberg on Aug. 22. Volkswagen’s Chinese partner is also looking to establish a large-scale data center on the continent to be compliant with the region’s regulatory framework for data security, before some of its advanced driver assistance features can be made available to European customers.
The comments were made after Brussels announced on Aug. 20 that it will impose five-year import duties on EVs from Chinese automakers, ranging from 17% to 36.3% on top of the existing 10% duty. Cars made by Xpeng are subject to an additional duty rate of 21.3%, as well as those from other producers that were deemed cooperative in the anti-subsidy investigation initiated by the EU watchdog last October. Similarly, Chinese auto giant BYD is establishing regional facilities in Uzbekistan, Hungary, and Turkey, while Chery will make EVs in Spain as early as in the fourth quarter of this year, as they look to sidestep tariffs and keep their car prices competitive. [Bloomberg]