Manufacturing department “an enabler” for design, says Xpeng

From its not so insignificant stand at the Brussels motor show last week, Xpeng gave the new P7+ its first public reveal following a virtual lifting of the covers a little earlier.

Sleek, clearly influenced by a tech-first strategy and apparently capable of stowing 33 full-size suitcases, it is the latest push to expand its range in Europe which includes the G6 we tested last year.

As part of our January focus on design for manufacturing (DfM), Car Design News took the opportunity to see how a relatively new player – and one which champions agility – works with those in charge of assembling the vehicle. After all, a groundbreaking design is very little use if it cannot be transformed from graphite on paper to tyres on tarmac.

Design manager Alain Simon, who served as Xpeng’s official design spokesperson for both the motor show and a media presentation the evening before, was happy to share some insight.

Car Design News: We often hear of the friction that can come between design and manufacturing departments. How do you see that at Xpeng? 

Alain Simon: There is of course a lot of back and forth, but what's great about Xpeng is that there is a real push for everybody to do the best job we can. Really pushing the core values of the company, which is innovation. The designers always want to go crazy, but we have engineers that are like, “let's do it.” 

CDN: Okay. So it feels as though they are enabling you? 

AS: Exactly. There is definitely this feeling. They're not afraid to take risks and they’re not afraid to try things, which is something really unique for Xpeng today. And it's a lot of fun. 

CDN: So at what point in the process would manufacturing teams come into the conversations?

AS: Very early on. 

CDN: …but I assume you're not showing them the key sketches as soon as they’re done, though?

AS: We actually really do work very early on. We work with them within the design process today because we always need to reduce the timeline of a design for a car. What better way than to get the engineers involved almost right away, so they can help us on the side to make sure whatever we create is in the realm of possibility. 

CDN: Right.

AS: It's not a “yes” or a “no” right away, but it's more a discussion, like: “Okay, you can do this, but maybe if you do it more this way it will be much easier to manufacture later on.” This way, we don't come in with a full design that's done, knock on their door and they're like, “what is this?” This is where they're involved really early on, so we generally work hand in hand with them in terms of the design process. 

CDN: Do you have any specific examples or areas of the car where you would work particularly closely with manufacturing departments? Maybe around the impact zones around the front of the car…? 

We know we're not artists, we do products, so it's great to know right away if something is going to work.

AS: There's no specific example that comes to mind, it’s really everything. Whatever is going to be manufactured, which is 100% of the car, there's someone that will be able to tell us whether it is doable or not. We also have the studio engineers – a bunch of them, actually – who are experts in everything around this and can tell us right away whether what we are doing is more or less possible. Then when it comes to the details, later on in the manufacturing process we go really closely and make things become reality. But there's no one specific area where they are more involved. It's everything. 

CDN: Has it always been like this in the companies you've worked at previously? 

AS: No, Xpeng is really unique in this way. It's a pleasure, really. It's more fun for me. I like to do things that have a possibility of existing, not just doing random designs. We know we're not artists, we do products, so it's really great to know right away if it is going to work. I can find a guy to chat with and sketch together, and literally ask in the moment can I do this, can I do that? And they will say “yeah, maybe this, maybe that.” And we can come up with a great design very quickly. 

CDN: That's really good to hear. We heard in the press conference earlier how Xpeng sees itself more as a technology and product design company, even comparing the rear of the P7+ to the edge of the iPhone. 

AS: Interesting. 

CDN: Does it feel more like product design than traditional automotive design? 

AS: Well, the thing is, we are working today on our design DNA, trying to improve it and making it stronger. But we definitely want to push this high-tech field. We are trying to explore this emotion into a broad range of design cues.

CDN: Sure. 

AS: To the point about the iPhone. What's more high-tech today than an iPhone in terms of the visual and product design to it. So there are definitely elements of that kind of field we're trying to bring into the design. 

CDN: And although you’re based in China, the design team must have a European feel to it?

AS: It's very European, yes. But very international as well. The team has members from all around the world – South America, Europe, all over Asia – so to me it's really interesting, this melting pot of cultures coming together. It's always very exciting. And this is where I love car design because it offers this sort of environment, which is great.

CDN: How is it working with someone like JuanMa Lopez, who brings some real pedigree from the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini... 

AS: That’s right. JuanMa brings some incredible experience to the team and it's great to work with him. He’s a very strong personality and has done a lot in terms of completely switching over the studio, bringing it to a level of unprecedented quality in terms of the processes and in terms of the quality of design.