The Xpeng P7 electric vehicle (EV) has made its Australian public debut in Melbourne, however the automaker says it’s yet to come to a decision whether the striking liftback, a rival to the Tesla Model 3, Mazda 6e and BYD Seal, will join its local lineup.
The second-generation ‘E29’ P7 was launched in China in 2025 and was among the many vehicles displayed on the brand’s Australian relaunch this week as a factory-backed operation.
The P7 was the one production model displayed that the automaker hasn’t locked in for local showrooms (discounting the Aircraft Carrier), with five models including 4 SUVs and a people mover set to reach over the subsequent six months.
The Xpeng GX flagship SUV can be set to reach in 2027 on the earliest, although exact timing is yet to be decided.
“We’re taking a look at the market currently,” Xpeng vice chairman and president Brian Gu told media including CarExpert, when asked concerning the P7’s possibilities of an area launch.
“I see a trend that sedans becoming more marginalised as a format, so we’re pondering very hard whether we would like to bring more sedans to this market. Obviously that call hasn’t been made yet.”
The P7 measures 5017mm long, 1970mm wide and 1427mm high, and uses a rear-mounted 270kW/465Nm electric motor driving the rear wheels within the entry-level grade, paired with a 74.9kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery.
Claimed range on the CLTC cycle is 702km, rising to as much as 820km in higher grades using a 92.2kWh lithium ternary battery.
This larger battery can be fitted to the flagship Ultra, which produces 437kW/695Nm through a dual-motor all-wheel drive system, for a claimed 0-100km/h time of three.7 seconds and a 750km CLTC range.
With Xpeng pitching itself as a rival to Tesla, the P7’s key competitor in Australia could be the (smaller) Model 3 sedan, which starts at $54,900 before on-road costs here, with the 2 EVs priced relatively closely in China.
While Tesla sales have been resurgent in 2026, each globally and in Australia, it has been the Model Y SUV doing the heavy lifting, making headlines by becoming the primary EV to top the Australian sales charts in May.
Tesla doesn’t report individual global sales by model, but Electric Vehicle Council figures show Model 3 sales have fallen in Australia, with 3192 delivered in the primary six months of the 12 months, down 14.1 per cent on the identical period in 2025.
Meanwhile, 20,396 Model Ys were delivered in Australia in the primary half of this 12 months, putting it third overall behind the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux utes.
Bucking the trend is the BYD Seal, which is up 64.9 per cent year-to-date with 2654 deliveries, hot on the heels of the declining Model 3.
Regardless, the P7 would enter a comparatively low-volume segment despite modest growth this 12 months, with Xpeng likely keeping a keen eye on sales of the brand new Mazda 6e electric liftback, customer deliveries of which begin this month.
The opposite recent arrival, the Kia EV4 electric sedan, has contributed only 277 sales to Kia’s 41,846 year-to-date deliveries, despite record EV market share driven by record fuel prices.
In China, Xpeng also offers the M03 sedan, which is closer in size to the Model 3 and EV4, but is geared toward younger buyers and priced much lower. At the opposite end of the dimensions, the P7+ is one other large liftback with more sedate styling than the P7.
Passenger cars have largely been replaced by SUVs by way of popularity in Australia.
The Holden Commodore sedan and wagon range last topped the annual sales charts in 2010, with the Mazda 3 that took the highest spot in 2011-12 and the Toyota Corolla that took it from 2013-15 each offered as a hatch or sedan.
While SUVs have grown in popularity, it’s actually utes which have taken the highest spot yearly from 2016 onwards – first the Toyota HiLux, after which the Ford Ranger.
This Article First Appeared At www.carexpert.com.au
