Chinese electric vehicle startup XPeng and German legacy automaker Volkswagen Group have just expanded their partnership from China-only to a global MEB platform.
XPeng & VW’s electric alliance goes global
According to the press release, XPeng and Volkswagen Group signed a Master Agreement on electrical/electronic architecture (E/E Architecture) on July 22, 2024.
The deal amplifies the companies’ goals to co-develop innovative E/E Architecture for electric vehicles riding on VW’s China Main Platform (CMP) and Modular Electric Drive Matrix (MEB) architectures for all locally produced models.
“XPENG and the Volkswagen Group have entered into a Master Agreement on E/E Collaboration (“Master Agreement”) which solidifies both parties’ commitment to jointly develop industry-leading E/E Architecture for all locally produced vehicles based on Volkswagen’s China Main Platform (CMP) and Modular Electric Drive Matrix (MEB) platform.”
XPeng
For context, XPeng and Volkswagen Group’s initial announcement on April 17 only mentioned the CMP. To be specific, they only originally planned to co-develop and integrate XPeng’s latest-gen E/E architecture into the Volkswagen CMP.
Considering that the MEB currently signifies the German brand’s vehicle architecture for global electric vehicle development, the new deal suggests that the companies’ partnership is going beyond the Chinese market.
Global MEB platform co-development
XPeng asserted that the newly signed agreement with VW Group not only accelerates the E/E architecture’s joint development in China. It also apparently generates more expansion prospects for the E/E architecture alliance.
Both parties committed to exploring more application prospects for the E/E architecture.
Xpeng and Volkswagen have already deployed project centers in Guangzhou and Hefei. These facilities house the partners’ engineers, enabling them to collaborate to ramp up the development process.
Looking forward
XPeng announced that the inaugural electric vehicle model to ride on the jointly developed E/E architecture will officially hit the production line in about 2 years.
“For us at Volkswagen, this project is also the next milestone in the consistent implementation of our ‘in China for China’ strategy — with a clear focus on Chinese customers and technological innovations.”
Ralf Brandstätter, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Group China
Brandstätter further disclosed that Volkswagen’s battery-electric vehicle offerings in the Chinese market will utilize the innovative E/E architecture from 2026.
Volkswagen invested approximately $700 million in XPeng in exchange for around a 4.99% stake. Since then, they continuously announced groundbreaking projects such as the joint production of two Volkswagen-branded EV models based on the XPeng G9 platform to gain an advantage in the Chinese mid-size car segment. The first model, a mid-size SUV, will reportedly undergo production in 2026.
