The cover photo comes from a Paris event posted by He Xiaopeng on X; the 500,000 figure is the target for annual European sales by the end of 2030.

At the Paris auto show, He Xiaopeng got into a Tesla.

On October 13, he posted a video of himself experiencing Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, describing the overall performance as "very smooth." Speaking about XPeng's own Navigation Guided Pilot (NGP), he said the two systems each have their strengths, and he hopes they will push each other forward so users get a better experience.

At the same auto show, he also set a big goal for XPeng. In an interview with Bloomberg on October 12, He Xiaopeng said that by the end of 2030, he hopes global annual sales will reach 1 million vehicles, with Europe accounting for half.

500,000 cars a year in Europe. This goal places a test drive in Paris within a much bigger business picture. For XPeng to have Europe support half of the company's vehicle sales, it needs to give local buyers a strong enough reason to buy, and it also needs to be ready to build the cars.

He Xiaopeng experiencing Tesla FSD in Paris. Video frame published in a Kuai Technology report on October 13.

First, Get Europeans Into the Car

At this Paris auto show, only two automakers participated in the official assisted driving experience program: XPeng and Tesla. Visitors could book a slot, get in the car, and drive onto real Paris roads. Both companies were demonstrating assisted driving that still requires driver supervision.

Test rides at the same event brought the comparison into a place familiar to buyers. Whether the car brakes too hard at a traffic light, whether it yields when a cyclist passes, whether it naturally goes around a vehicle blocking the road—passengers can form their own impression after a single ride.

He Xiaopeng also handed the challenge to local people. On October 10, he asked on X for France's hardest "devil routes," saying he wanted to personally test the limits of NGP. The video accompanying the post showed scenes such as a Paris roundabout, while the car used for test rides at the auto show was the L03 equipped with the second-generation VLA model. VLA refers to vision-language-action models, with the goal of enabling vehicles to understand scenes and take driving actions.

He Xiaopeng's original X post, dated October 10. The company demo video stops at around 47 seconds on a Paris roundabout scene.

The roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe also entered his Paris discussion. The Wall Street Journal reported on October 13 that He Xiaopeng introduced XPeng's assisted driving tests there at an event before the auto show, remarking when talking about the roundabout that it is very hard to drive. Merging into traffic, yielding, and finding the exit test a whole chain of judgments.

Outside testers later gave more detailed feedback. CarNewsChina editor-in-chief Jiri Opletal published a roughly 30-minute record of a Paris test ride on October 12; the route was pre-arranged and there was a safety driver in the car.

A family was preparing to cross a zebra crossing but had not yet stepped onto it, and NGP had already stopped to yield. Along the way, it went around vehicles blocking the lane and also handled cyclists. The reporter gave positive reviews of these behaviors, while noting that lane changes and merging into traffic still need refinement, that the safety driver took over during the ride, and also took over when parking back at the exhibition hall.

This feedback gave XPeng concrete points of comparison. A single yield or lane change experienced by a passenger can turn the "intelligence" in brand marketing into firsthand experience. Assisted driving going overseas is beginning to have details that Europeans can discuss.

The Scale He Wants Far Exceeds a Single Appearance

XPeng already has a group of European owners. The company disclosed on October 7 that cumulative deliveries in Europe had exceeded 60,000 vehicles. Now He Xiaopeng is proposing 500,000 sales a year by the end of 2030, with Europe accounting for half of his global sales target. Cumulative deliveries show how far the company has come; the annual sales target shows how big it wants to become next.

Bloomberg interview on October 12, published by Yahoo Finance. The 500,000 annual European sales figure is a target for the end of 2030, and He Xiaopeng also emphasized expanding local production.

This goal also explains another statement he made on X. After the Paris night, He Xiaopeng wrote that XPeng wants to build a high-end technology brand in Europe and invest long term in local R&D, production, and partnerships. It wants its technological characteristics to become a reason European users are willing to pay.

The auto show has already begun taking orders. The G9L announced its French starting price on October 12 at 74,990 euros and opened European ordering. In front of buyers is a flagship SUV with a published price and orders now being accepted, and XPeng needs the product experience to support that choice.

Daily use of NGP still needs to follow. XPeng plans to bring this navigation-assisted driving system overseas in 2027, with European rollout subject to local regulations and approvals. At this auto show, the company said it aims to pass the United Nations R171 Regulation 02 series certification. On-site test rides and the features available after ordinary owners take delivery will proceed on their own timelines.

To this end, XPeng has involved its Munich R&D team in European assisted driving validation, and the team is also responsible for local certification, language interaction, chassis tuning, and charging adaptation. For the car to understand Paris roads, and for owners to use local languages and charging facilities smoothly, these are all tasks that must be done after selling into Europe.

The Car Has to Drive Well, and Enough of Them Have to Be Built

Speaking about the 500,000 target, He Xiaopeng told Bloomberg that production capacity is currently XPeng's most critical bottleneck in Europe. This answer explains the arrangements for his trip better than repeating model parameters.

Before the G9L went to Paris, it had already completed its first trial production at Magna's plant in Graz, Austria. The G6, G9, and P7+ are being produced there, and the G9L will become the fourth model. The two sides' local European production began in the third quarter of 2025.