Xpeng, the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker, confirmed the departure of its Vice President of Autonomous Driving, Wu Xinzhou, after earlier rumors sent the company’s Hong Kong-traded stock into a downward spiral. In a statement, Xpeng stated that Wu tendered his resignation for personal and family reasons.
Taking over Wu’s responsibilities will be Li Liyun, the current senior director of the autonomous driving team, who had been leading the XNGP (Navigation Guided Pilot) program team and preparing for this transition for some time, according to the company.
Xpeng’s Chairman and CEO, He Xiaopeng, revealed in a Weibo post that Wu had announced his return to the US for family and multiple reasons late last year. He praised the collaboration with Wu over the past 10 months in defining a new working model.
The company had prepared for this transition over nearly a year, ensuring a smooth handover process for the autonomous driving team and its business continuity. He Xiaopeng reassured stakeholders that he would continue to personally lead the autonomous driving and research and development (R&D) teams in the future.
Additionally, Xpeng plans to implement further organisational changes to enhance its focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and smart technologies. The company aims to reconfigure its teams to integrate autonomous driving, cockpits, machine brains, EEA, and innovation projects into a consolidated smart technologies team, which Mr. He will lead himself. He expressed confidence that AI and its operational experience will revolutionise the automotive industry.
Despite the executive change, Xpeng’s objectives for XNGP remain unchanged. The company still expects the feature to cover 50 cities in China within the year and pledges full support for its strategic partner, Volkswagen.
He Xiaopeng thanked Wu for his contributions to Xpeng and disclosed that Wu might be joining Nvidia, a US chip giant, possibly as a global senior vice president, reporting to Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s co-founder and CEO.
Wu had been a key figure in Xpeng’s journey towards establishing a solid smart driving label. Under his leadership, the company made significant advancements in autonomous driving technology, such as developing the XNGP assisted driving system. The system is expected to evolve in phases, ultimately enabling full-scene Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) upon completion in 2024.
Xpeng’s City NGP feature, a component of the XNGP system, was recently made available to users participating in a public test in Beijing. This move made Xpeng the first EV maker in China to offer such capabilities to its customers.
As Xpeng undergoes these changes, industry watchers will closely monitor how the company navigates the dynamic autonomous driving landscape, while continuing to innovate in the EV sector.
