XPeng, a Chinese electric vehicle startup, has officially announced an expansion of its presence in Europe into two new countries – Sweden and the Netherlands – in the first quarter of 2022.

The company already had a presence in Norway (since 2020), which is a usual starting point for the European EV market for many manufacturers.

To succeed in Europe, XPeng decided to operate under a specific business model, combining direct stores (XPeng’s standalone retail experience stores) with agency collaboration (full retail and services of its local agency partners).

The local partners for collaboration with retail agencies have just been announced:

• Emil Frey in the Netherlands
• Bilia in Sweden

The first XPeng retail experience store in the Netherlands will open in March 2022.

The local partner, Emil Frey, will take care of the retail and service network.

“XPENG has entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with Emil Frey Nederland NV (“Emil Frey”) for the Netherlands. Emil Frey will develop XPENG’s sales and service network while managing XPENG branded stores across the Netherlands.

XPENG Agency Retail’s agreement with Emil Frey Netherlands marks a major step forward for its European expansion. The combination is the first Agency Retail collaboration for XPENG in Europe and one of the first within the automotive industry.

The collaboration with Emil Frey, one of the largest automotive retail organizations in Europe, will provide enormous potential for XPENG’s retail expansion in the Netherlands and beyond. Through this partnership, XPENG customers will benefit from consistent pricing, online and offline, access to Emil Frey’s well-established service and distribution network, as well as service efficiency and highest quality standards.

Additionally, XPENG plans to open its retail experience store, located in Westfield Shopping Center in the Netherlands, near The Hague, in March 2022.”

In Sweden, the first retail experience store will open this week in Stockholm.

Bilia will handle retail sales and service using its network of 58 dealerships and 66 service centers nationwide.

“In Sweden, XPENG has also entered into a collaboration agreement with Bilia, the country’s largest automotive dealership and distributor. Bilia’s high customer satisfaction track record and comprehensive network, consisting of 58 dealerships and 66 service centers in Sweden, a good fit with XPENG’s ambitions to offer localized products and differentiated services to international customers XPENG products will be available in Bilia stores and serviced in its service centers, initially located in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö.

This week, XPENG will officially open its retail store in Sweden, marking its first standalone retail store in the international market. »

Xpeng P7

The company does not yet have a retail experience store in Norway, so we assume that at some point there will be as well.

The press release also mentions Denmark, as the fourth country, where “Progress has been made… in building its marketing, sales, delivery and service framework”. It would be natural to assume that this could be the next market being developed.

He Xiaopeng, Chairman and CEO of XPENG, said:

“Our global journey begins in Europe, propelled by our commitment to increasing the penetration of smart electric vehicles. We strongly support Europe’s electric vehicle development strategy and forge partnerships with leading local players to accelerate the conservation of energy, emissions reduction and electrification in Europe”.

In 2021, XPeng sold some 98,155 electric cars (up 263% year-on-year) and started this year with a 115% increase in sales to 12,922 cars in January.