Wu's departure comes a week after Xpeng announced a significant investment from Volkswagen to co-develop electric vehicle models for the Chinese market. Despite his resignation, Xpeng aims to reduce the number of manual takeovers per 1,000 kilometers when using its highway navigation to one or fewer by the end of 2023. The company's advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) Xpeng Navigation Guided Pilot (XNPG) has a mileage penetration rate exceeding 60% in first-tier cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Shanghai.
Key takeaways:
- Xinzhou Wu, vice president of autonomous driving at Xpeng, has resigned due to personal and family reasons. He played a crucial role in Xpeng's autonomous driving business and helped the company gain an edge over its EV rivals.
- Xpeng is known for its advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) Xpeng Navigation Guided Pilot (XNPG), a counterpart to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system. The company aims to reduce manual takeovers to one or fewer per 1,000 kilometers by the end of 2023.
- There are rumors that Wu may take up a senior position in Nvidia’s autonomous driving division. Xpeng has a longstanding chip partnership with Nvidia, which has made significant strides in the autonomous vehicle space.
- Wu's resignation comes a week after Xpeng announced a promising investment from Volkswagen to co-develop electric vehicle models for the Chinese market. His departure is seen as a significant talent loss for Xpeng.