EqualOcean has been informed that DIDI(Chinese: 滴滴出行) has agreed to sell its smart car development unit to XPENG(Chinese: 小鹏汽车) for HKD 5.84 billion (USD 744 million), exiting a promising business in the electric vehicle market, Bloomberg reported.
XPENG said in a stock exchange filing that it would issue shares to DIDI at HKD 64.03 each.
On the morning of Aug. 28, DIDI and XPENG jointly announced that the two companies will enter into a strategic partnership to leverage their respective strengths and resources, work together to promote the application and popularization of intelligent electric vehicles and related technologies globally and work together to promote changes in the transportation and automotive industries, DIDI's announcement said.
According to DIDI, in this strategic cooperation with XPENG, DIDI will sell to XPENG the assets and R&D capabilities related to the smart electric vehicle project, based on which XPENG will build an A-class smart electric vehicle, code-named "MONA", which, is the first product of its new brand, is expected to be differentiated from the existing brand of XPENG, and is expected to have an advantage over the existing brand of XPENG. As the first product of its new brand, this model will be differentiated from XPENG's existing brand and is expected to be mass-produced by XPENG and launched in the market in 2024.
Mr. He Xiaopeng, Chairman and CEO of XPENG, said, "DIDI, as an outstanding global mobility platform, shares XPENG's vision of leading the future of mobility with technology, and the launch of XPENG's new brand and products will not only further increase its market share through the scaling effect, but also popularize the intelligent driving technology faster, allowing a wider range of user groups to enjoy the benefits of technology. The new brand and products will not only further increase the market share through the scale effect, but also make the intelligent driving technology popularized faster so that a wider range of user groups can enjoy the travel convenience brought by technological universality.
Cheng Wei, Chairman and CEO of DIDI, said, "DIDI has always been committed to promoting the sharing, electrification and intelligence of the travel market. XPENG has leading technological advantages in the field of intelligent electric vehicles and also has a profound accumulation of automotive intelligent technology. Both parties will continue to deepen cooperation in multiple fields and jointly promote the transformation of the transportation and automotive industries."