The president of Chinese electric vehicle maker XPeng on Friday criticised the fresh tariffs on Chinese cars imposed by Washington as 鈥榰nfavourable鈥� for the United States鈥� energy transition.
US president Joe Biden announced earlier this week the quadrupling of customs duties on Chinese electric cars to 100 per cent, which China slammed as politicising an economic issue and a breach of World Trade Organisation rules.
XPeng president and vice-chairman Brian Gu said at an event in Hong Kong on Friday that the levies will lead to 鈥榟igher costs and slower product iteration鈥�, hampering the US鈥檚 green energy ambitions.
鈥楩or an auto market as important and large as the US, they would want to have carbon-neutral, green energy transition,鈥� Gu told reporters. 鈥楾he tariffs are unfavourable to its own climate and energy transition.鈥�
鈥業 hope one day it can become more open, so that products all over the world can compete there.鈥�
XPeng - which sold more than 1,40,000 cars last year - is not directly impacted by the tariffs as it does not sell in the US, he added.
Gu鈥檚 comments came a day after XPeng announced its launch in France and Germany, with聽plans to expand to the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy before the end of 2024.
Asked if he was concerned that the European Union will mirror American tariffs, Gu told AFP that XPeng would press ahead with its global strategy and not be limited as a China-only EV manufacturer.
Europe鈥檚 anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese EVs had 鈥榞one on for some time鈥� but there is 鈥榥othing conclusive鈥�, he said.
Founded in 2014, the Guangzhou-headquartered EV manufacturer said on Thursday it will market its premium SUV models in France, with prices starting at $65,200.
The company鈥檚 senior product planning expert Alan Ma, said XPeng plans to introduce smaller SUVs to the French market in future.
鈥業n France, we can see that smaller cars are more popular... We will fully consider the needs of the French market and bring in smaller models to suit French buyers,鈥� Ma told AFP.