XPeng Motors replaced more than a dozen senior executives in a single year. He Xiaopeng personally recounted the "darkest moment" of his entrepreneurship and said that the elimination stage in the automotive industry will last for another five years.

On August 26, the second episode of "Luo Yonghao's Crossroads" went live. In this episode, He Xiaopeng, the Chairman and CEO of XPeng Motors, shared his entrepreneurial journey from achieving financial freedom to entering the "hell mode".

Public information shows that He Xiaopeng is one of the founders of UCWeb (UC Browser) and achieved financial freedom through it. He Xiaopeng said, "After college, I thought there were several ways to achieve financial freedom. The first was to win the lottery, the second was to buy real estate, the third was to get stock options in a good company, and the fourth was to start a business."

"Ding Lei (CEO of NetEase) initially supported us a great deal. Ding Lei took a fancy to the mobile email business and lent us 800,000 RMB. He originally wanted to convert it into an investment but didn't. We paid him back after a few years. 800,000 RMB was not a small amount at that time. With that money, the company could survive for two years," said He Xiaopeng.

When talking about the opportunity to enter the car - making industry, He Xiaopeng (who had already achieved financial freedom through UC at that time) said that he didn't consider cars at first. He thought it was extremely difficult for Internet people to venture into hardware (especially large - scale hardware) and that Internet people were overly confident at that time and needed a process of re - growth.

1 "Many friends advised me to rename XPeng Motors"

In 2014, He Xiaopeng joined hands with Li Xueling, the founder of YY, Fu Sheng, the CEO of Cheetah Mobile, Wu Xiaoguang of the former Tencent E - commerce Holdings, and several venture capital institutions to jointly invest in and establish a company focused on the R & D of Internet - enabled electric vehicles - Guangzhou Orange Mobility Technology Co., Ltd., which was the predecessor of XPeng Motors. It is reported that He Xiaopeng first joined this car company as an investor.

Image source: Screenshot from the program "Luo Yonghao's Crossroads" 

Initially, the entrepreneurial team hoped to name the company "Orange Car", which symbolized freshness, vitality, and innovation, just like an orange. However, when applying for the trademark, the company found that the trademark for "Orange Car" had already been registered, while the name "XPeng" was available for registration. Considering He Xiaopeng's reputation and connections in the Internet industry and his core position in the entrepreneurial team, the company finally decided to rename it "XPeng Motors".

However, naming the company XPeng Motors also sparked some controversies. He Xiaopeng said in the program, "In China, it seems strange to use the boss's name as a company name. For seven or eight years, many friends advised me to rename XPeng Motors, saying that the sales would double as long as we changed the name. There may be multiple reasons behind this. One is cultural confidence, and the other is brand recognition. People think being trendy is important."

The voices calling for "renaming XPeng Motors" were most concentrated during the period when XPeng Motors' sales were sluggish and the company was undergoing organizational restructuring. At that time, XPeng Motors suffered a setback with the launch of the XPeng G9. After that, He Xiaopeng initiated organizational changes and carried out a long - term adjustment.

2 "Personnel adjustments should be both decisive and emotional"

In the podcast, He Xiaopeng talked about the major personnel adjustment at XPeng Motors at that time. At that time, He Xiaopeng decided to take charge of everything from the front - line. He replaced more than a dozen senior executives in over a year without causing a big stir in the public. "We should be both decisive and emotional. Most of them voluntarily retired, and the whole process was relatively amicable," said He Xiaopeng.

"The company faced great challenges at that time. It didn't make sense to make big adjustments when the company was doing well. However, when the company was in a bad situation, being more decisive might be more appropriate because it provided an opportunity for discussions," said He Xiaopeng.

"Our (performance) growth in the first half of this year (2025) was 200%, which means how bad the situation was in the first half of last year," He Xiaopeng added. "We had a large loss in the second quarter of 2024, selling only a few thousand cars a month. We had dozens of meals with some key employees and told them that the situation would improve in the fourth quarter of 2024. But about 30% of the people who had those meals left."

For a long time after the unsuccessful launch of the XPeng G9, XPeng Motors had been making adjustments in various aspects. Finally, in the second half of 2024, it reaped the rewards of these adjustments. At that time, XPeng Motors launched two new cars, the MONA M03 and the XPeng P7 +, which led to an increase in sales and drove the company's performance growth.

The latest financial report shows that in the second quarter of 2025, XPeng Motors' total revenue was 18.27 billion RMB, a 125.3% increase compared to the same period in 2024 and a 15.6% increase compared to the first quarter of 2025, setting a new single - quarter record.

Image source: XPeng Motors' announcement 

3 "No company has secured a ticket yet"

Although XPeng Motors has emerged from the trough recently, He Xiaopeng believes that the company has not yet escaped the risk of being eliminated and said that the elimination stage in China's auto industry will last for about five more years. "In the end, there will probably be about five Chinese companies left, and overseas car companies will still exist in the Chinese market. I don't think anyone can say they've secured a ticket. No company has, which is both a challenge and an opportunity," said He Xiaopeng.

When asked if Tesla had escaped the risk of being eliminated, He Xiaopeng said, "I might have agreed with this view last year, but Tesla has faced new challenges this year." He then added that many well - performing small - scale, new companies usually experience ups and downs within 12 to 24 months, and very large companies will also have fluctuations within four to five years.

During this program, Luo Yonghao also asked He Xiaopeng to talk about the domestic competitors he favored and admired. He Xiaopeng said that each car company has its own advantages. For example, Volkswagen, which is both a partner and an investor, has aspects that he appreciates.

"Many car companies are a bit over - confident now. Maybe each company has its strong points, but it's only after the initial five - year elimination stage that the real competition begins. So I think every company has a lot of room for improvement, including Lei Jun's Xiaomi. We think Xiaomi is doing very well, but it also faces many challenges," He Xiaopeng believes. "(Running a business) means being more stable and solid, learning from others' strengths, and addressing one's own weaknesses to become more well - rounded."

This article is from the WeChat official account "NBD Auto", author: Sun Lei, published by 36Kr with authorization.