NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 4:11 a.m. ET — Pre-market
- XPeng down 2.1% premarket after 6.2% jump in previous session
- Company Reported AAAI 2026 Acceptance Related to Reducing Autonomous Driving Computing Load
- A Chinese auto industry official has warned of a sharp slowdown in battery demand in early 2026 as incentives fade
Shares of XPeng Inc fell 2.1% in pre-market trading on Monday, after the Chinese electric vehicle maker’s U.S.-listed shares rose in the previous session. The stock was listed at $20.34. Invest
The pullback comes as investors head into the final week of the year weighing the company’s technology updates against new warnings about a slowing outlook for Chinese EV-related demand in early 2026. This is important for XPeng because most of its sales are still tied to China’s fiercely competitive market, where political incentives can quickly change purchasing habits. Reuters
XPeng ended the last regular session on Friday up 6.18% at $20.78, according to Investing.com data. Invest
In a press release issued Monday morning, the company said a collaborative research paper with Peking University had been accepted by AAAI 2026, an academic conference focused on artificial intelligence. The release said the work aims to reduce the computing burden of end-to-end autonomous driving models. PR newswire
XPeng said the research introduced a “visual token pruning” framework – a technique that reduces the amount of image information an AI model processes – to speed up the real-time inference or calculations a system performs while driving. Heavy on-board calculations can slow response times and increase hardware costs, a key issue for automakers trying to develop advanced driver-assistance features. PR newswire
The company said its method reduced the computational load by almost 7.5 times while maintaining planning accuracy on the nuScenes autonomous driving benchmark. The release also reported a 17.6% acceptance rate for this year’s conference. PR newswire
XPeng framed the work as part of its journey towards Level 4 autonomous driving, a term that generally refers to systems capable of managing driving without human intervention under defined conditions. PR newswire
The optimistic tone towards AI has been accompanied by a more cautious sector backdrop. Reuters reported on Sunday that Chinese demand for lithium batteries is expected to fall in early 2026, as domestic sales of electric vehicles fall and exports slow. Reuters
“The demand for new energy batteries will drop significantly,” Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, wrote in a personal social media post, according to Reuters. Reuters
Cui said sales of eco-friendly passenger vehicles could fall by at least 30% early next year as tax incentives for car purchases are phased out, a development that investors in electric vehicle manufacturers and suppliers are watching closely. Reuters
Movements in U.S.-listed Chinese EV peers were mixed before the bell. Li Auto was down 1.83% in pre-market trading at $17.12, while Nio was up 1.57% at $5.18, according to Investing.com data. Investing.com+1
For XPeng, traders will be watching to see if Monday’s session leads to further buying after Friday’s rally, which saw shares trading between $19.80 and $21.19. Invest
Investors are also awaiting the next major checkpoint for the companies: XPeng’s next earnings report is scheduled for March 24, 2026, according to Investing.com. Invest
The stock’s 52-week range extends from $11.14 to $28.24, leaving it well below its highs as the market tests whether the company’s technology narrative can offset more volatile demand heading into 2026. Invest