File photo/NBD

On the evening of August 6, the new XPeng P7 made its global debut. Built on the joint platform developed by XPeng and Volkswagen, the car debuts a three-axis "floating" screen actuated by the robotic IRON wrist joint and a 117-inch AR-HUD (augmented-reality head-up display). The model is the direct successor to the current P7 and is scheduled to reach showrooms later this month.

For XPeng, the P7 has always been a strategically pivotal nameplate. Launched as the brand's first car, the original P7 saw cumulative deliveries of 11,371 units by November 2020—the fastest any new start-up had reached the 10,000-unit milestone at the time. In 2021, the annual sales topped 60,000, averaging more than 5,000 a month and cementing the P7's role as XPeng's undisputed volume pillar.

Yet in the years that followed, aging product strength, intensifying competition and internal restructuring saw the P7 drift into the slow lane. Public data show deliveries this year have dwindled to only a few hundred units, a clear signal that a full generational change was overdue.

Compared with the outgoing model, the new P7 is effectively a clean-sheet design. It adopts XPeng’s latest visual language, projecting unmistakable tech-forward and futuristic cues.

"This is perhaps the most emotionally invested project we've ever undertaken," said XPeng chairman He Xiaopeng. "Our Chinese and international design teams unleashed extraordinary imagination and an original, fashion-forward aesthetic to break away from the sea of sameness. The new P7 is elegant, passionate and, in any crowd, instantly different from everyone else."

He Xiaopeng File photo/NBD

In an earlier interview with National Business Daily (NBD), He elaborated: "Today, building cars requires technology in one hand and art in the other, with quality as the foundation and emotion the altitude. A mass-market product must balance quality, tech, art and looks, but to surpass the mainstream you have to deliver emotional value."

Others argue that XPeng has already regained its footing with the strong performances of the MONA M03 and P7+; the company should therefore field a more balanced, volume-oriented sedan to capitalize on its momentum and seize share. 

He Xiaopeng noted: "Frankly, I hadn't looked at it that way. Every car has its own mission. The new P7 embodies our thoughts, explorations and practice of future technology—global-leading tech distilled into one vehicle. Objectively, I hope it becomes a volume hit, but it will not be the ‘inexpensive’ model some fans expect. At this specification level, it simply isn't built for everyone. It is meant to be the dream car for extreme tech idealists and a timeless, fashionable icon."

Despite the debate, many brokerages see upside. "The new P7 is competitive, with segment-leading lighting and technology. A projected starting price of around RMB 220,000 positions it as a strong differentiated contender in the mid-to-high-end sedan arena, with room for surprise. Success would validate XPeng's upward price-band logic," one told investors.

If the rumored price materializes, the new P7 will likely become the brand's third-most-expensive model and should lift overall gross margin. AJ Securities wrote in a recent note that the model could act as "a profitability accelerator." XPeng has previously guided for its first quarterly profit in Q4 2025.