While Tesla struggles to meet investors’ expectations, its young Chinese counterparts are raising money at soaring valuations on hopes that China’s electric vehicle market will zoom ahead in the coming years.
Xiaopeng Motors, backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba, is in talks to raise $600 million to $700 million from Alibaba and other investors at a valuation close to $4 billion, people familiar with the discussions said. The previously unreported fundraising will be a combination of U.S. dollars and Chinese yuan. It comes months after the four-year-old startup, which uses Xpeng as its brand name, raised about $350 million in January in a round led by Alibaba and Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer. Xpeng’s spokeswoman declined to comment on fundraising plans.
