Xpeng will build cars in Austria. China is getting closer than you think

The China of the car is getting closer and closer. The latest and most significant example is that of the Xpeng brand which, in order to circumvent EU tariffs on electric cars, has decided to produce them in Graz, known as the Austrian car capital.

Although there are no Austrian car brands in production, cars from other countries are assembled here. Probably so as not to spoil the surprise, Xpeng was careful not to announce at the recent Munich Motor Show that production had started.

In Graz, the automotive industry is called Magna. In fact, the company's full name is Magna Steyr, because it is heir in part to the historical Austrian holding company Steyr-Daimler-Puch. In its plants in Graz, Bmw, Mercedes and Toyota are assembled. But now, for the first time a Chinese manufacturer, Xpeng, has decided to use the production specifically of its electric models for Europe and as it is known supported with artificial intelligence.

For Magna it is a real blessing from heaven, because the contracts with Bmw and Toyota are now expiring and will probably not be renewed due to the car crisis in Europe. The arrival of the Chinese will therefore save the Graz factory and possibly also the jobs of its 12,200 employees. Magna, in particular, had to take over the assembly of Xpeng vehicles coming from China and arriving at the Graz location partially disassembled.

Prefabricated components arrived in Graz. The models are, therefore, assembled and completed with elements such as axles and engines. And with the latest technology: the G6, for example, is equipped with a high-voltage LFP battery, lithium-iron-phosphate, with 800 volt architecture, free of rare minerals such as cobalt, manganese and nickel, and with a recharging capacity of 451 kW, which means that it can complete 80% of recharging in just 12 minutes. Other models will follow the first G6 and G9.