By ZHOU Shuqi
Business news outlet 36kr reported that cofounder and CEO HE Xiaopeng met with managers to “discuss problems in strategy and operations.” An all-staff email went out on Friday night announcing major changes.
XPeng is famous for its flat structure, allowing everyone to work on everything. But now it is to set up five groups: admin, production, R&D, sales, and strategy. Presiding over them are five new committees. Each product will have a dedicated sales and marketing force.
Inefficiency and infighting are said to be rampant and have deteriorated since the hiring bonanza last year.
“Managers hired from smartphone companies, traditional car makers and native XPeng people formed three factions. They don’t agree on anything,” said a person who recently left.
Analysts say it’s normal for EV startups to become more hierarchical as their product lineup grows and competition intensifies. XPeng did not respond to requests for comments.
Last month, XPeng had to cut prices and reconfigure specifications for its highly-marketed premium SUV G9 only two days after launch. Customers were angered by the convoluted combinations of add-ons and were especially unhappy about what the basic option offered.
The company announced layoffs and cost-cutting in February and its gross margin fell slightly in the first half to 11.6 percent from last year’s 12.5 percent. Net loss narrowed, however, from 4.9 billion yuan to 4.4 billion.
Deliveries dropped in August and September. About 100,000 cars were sold in the first three quarters, barely 40 percent of the whole-year target. XPeng stock in Hong Kong is down 80 percent year to date. It closed at HK$27.35 (25.47 yuan) on Monday.
