On the evening of August 27th, the first model of Xiaopeng MONA series – M03 was officially launched. The new car has launched a total of 3 models, with the price ranging from 119,800 to 155,800 yuan.
In terms of appearance, the new car is significantly different from the current models on sale of Xiaopeng Automobile. The new car adopts a brand-new design style and is overall younger and more fashionable. The front face features a closed design that is very popular for pure electric vehicles nowadays. On both sides, there are lamp groups with very exaggerated designs. The visual effect presents a “T” shape, which is very eye-catching. In addition, the new car is equipped with an active intake grille as standard for the lower surround of the whole series, which can be intelligently adjusted according to the vehicle speed during driving to optimize the wind resistance and meet the cooling requirements of the motor.
On the side of the body, the new car adopts a low-profile and wide-body coupe stance design style, and the overall shape is mainly simple. The new car is equipped with hidden door handles, rearview mirror cameras, and side cameras. The D-pillar position has a wind deflector. The new car also comes standard with 18-inch low wind resistance rims, and 19-inch sports rims are also available. It also provides a total of 5 body colors for selection, including Starry Millet, Starry Blue, Dark Night Black, Nebula White, and Starry Grey.
At the rear of the vehicle, the taillight shape of the new car is in the same design style as the headlamp group at the front, forming a corresponding effect. The ducktail design on the trunk tailgate further enhances the sportiness of the vehicle. In addition, the new car is equipped with an electric liftback tailgate as standard. The opening height is 1136mm. Under normal conditions, the trunk volume is 621 liters. It is expected that the rear seats can also be folded down to expand the trunk storage space.
In terms of size, the length, width and height of Xiaopeng MONA M03 are 4780/1896/1445mm respectively, and the wheelbase is 2815mm. It is positioned as a compact pure electric sedan. For comparison, the length, width and height of Tesla Model 3 are 4724/1848/1430mm respectively, and the wheelbase is 2875mm. In contrast, the length, width and height of Xiaopeng MONA M03 are all leading, but the wheelbase is 60mm shorter.
In the interior part, the interior of the new car is also mainly simple. It provides 3 color options of Morning Mist Grey, Noon Blue, and Nightfall Grey. It is equipped with a large central control screen. The vehicle machine is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip + 16GB memory. The air conditioning of the new car adopts a long-strip through air outlet design. The part blocked by the screen is moved to the bottom.
In terms of power, the new car will offer two motor options, with the maximum power of 140kW and 160kW respectively. The battery provides two kinds of lithium iron phosphate batteries of 51.8/62.2kWh. The range offers three options of 515km, 580km and 620km.
The MONA project originated from Didi’s Da Vinci plan for vehicle manufacturing, focusing on the market of 150,000 yuan level. In August last year, Xiaopeng Automobile announced the acquisition of the relevant assets and R&D capabilities of Didi’s intelligent electric vehicle project. At the subsequent Beijing Auto Show, Xiaopeng Automobile officially released its new brand MONA, and the first model was named M03 in June. Previously, He Xiaopeng, the chairman of Xiaopeng Automobile, revealed that the reason why the new car is named M03 is to pay tribute to Tesla Model 3. And the brand MONA is the abbreviation of Made Of New AI in English. The specific meaning is that “the last decade was the decade of new energy, and the next decade is the decade of AI”.
Retail data shows that from January to July this year, the cumulative sales of Xiaopeng Automobile were 63,200 units, with a year-on-year increase of 20.46%, but it is far behind Li Auto. For comparison, the cumulative sales of Li Auto and NIO in the first 7 months of this year were 240,000 units and 107,900 units respectively, and the cumulative sales of Leapmotor were also 108,800 units.
Up to now, the models on sale of Xiaopeng Automobile include 5 models of G6, X9, G9, P7 and P5. Among them, the model with the highest sales in the first 7 months is Xiaopeng G6, with 20,200 units; Xiaopeng X9 and Xiaopeng G9 follow, with 14,600 units and 14,500 units respectively; Xiaopeng P7 and Xiaopeng P5 are 10,500 units and 3,100 units respectively.
As a new series model of Xiaopeng Automobile, the new car has attracted much attention from the industry and consumers since its birth, and is also highly expected by He Xiaopeng, bearing the burden of boosting the sales of Xiaopeng Automobile. At the press conference, He Xiaopeng said that the goal of Xiaopeng MONA M03 is to become a classic style beyond the level.
Judging from the positioning and price of Xiaopeng MONA M03, the current pure electric compact sedans with better sales in this price range in the market include BYD Qin PLUS EV, GAC AION S, Buick Velite 6 and other models. But the new car has an advantage in terms of intelligence. As for whether consumers are willing to buy it later, let’s wait and see.
