(Yicai) March 18 -- Chinese new energy vehicle startup Xpeng Motor will release a new brand targeting a cheaper and more popular segment in China's automotive market.

Electric vehicle models under the new marque will be priced at between CNY100,000 and CNY150,000 (USD13,900 and USD20,850), He Xiaopeng, chairman and chief executive officer of Xpeng, said at an automotive forum on March 16.

Almost eight million cars in the above segment were sold in China last year, accounting for about 34 percent of the country's automotive market, up 3 percentage points from the previous year, He noted, adding that there is no killer product in that segment.

The new brand is committed to building the first "artificial intelligence-assisted driving car for young people," as new models equipped with smart driving capabilities at different levels will be unveiled gradually based on sustained insights into the needs of young consumers, He pointed out.

Xpeng has only one brand on the market at the moment, the Xpeng brand, which includes models priced at between CNY200,000 and CNY400,000.

Xpeng will use its established advantages in smart driving and cost control to make the mainstream smart driving functions of high-end EV models available to lower-price ones, He said.

The new brand will accumulate more data for the research and development of Xpeng's future smart driving products, which will help the carmaker improve its smart driving technologies and lower costs, according to He. Xpeng is likely to reduce the costs of smart driving by 50 percent, he added.

Xpeng is expected to invest CNY3.5 billion (USD486.4 million) in smart driving research and development and hire 4,000 new employees this year, according to a plan released by the Guangzhou-based firm. In the second quarter of the year, Xpeng's smart driving AI model will officially be equipped on its cars, becoming the first car-use AI and cognition engine to achieve mass production.

Editor: Futura Costaglione