A Chinese Tesla Rival Just Beat BMW in This Growing Category

King Solomon, who is famous for his wisdom, once said that "a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches." 

Carmakers certainly know the value of a good name. Some companies will name their vehicles after the founder, while others go for an alphanumeric system that combines letters and numerals.

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Xpeng  (XPEV) - Get Free Report falls into the latter category. The Chinese electric vehicle maker is following up its fifth production EV, the G6, with a sixth model dubbed the X9, the company's first attempt at a multipurpose vehicle that is reportedly scheduled to debut in the fourth quarter.

CEO He Xiaopeng recently teased a photo of the car’s name badge on his Weibo account, Electrek reported.

"In addition to G6, we have been polishing a new MPV — X9 recently, and we will use this product to open up the ‘young’ MPV market," the top executive wrote.

However, that name could be a problem. 

The Name Game

While German automaker BMW  (BMWYY)  doesn’t own the trademark rights for the X9 name – at least not in the European Union – it does have the rights to the iX9 model name, according to InsideEVs. 

This could set the stage for a legal battle. Last year Audi  (AUDVF)  won a copyright case against Nio, resulting in a sales ban imposed on the Chinese company’s ES6 and ES8 models in Germany.

The Munich Regional Court ruled that the name of Nio’s EVs are too similar and could be confused with Audi’s own S6 and S8 performance sedans.

Xpeng could probably do without any more headaches. The company reported a 45% drop in first-quarter sales on May 24. 

Barclays downgraded Xpeng to underweight from equal weight with a price target of $6, down from $8, citing "disappointing" results and a weaker-than-expected second-quarter outlook.

The firm said that it sees "multiple challenges" and a "highly uncertain outlook" for Xpeng.

Meanwhile, Xpeng's G9 is having a limited initial rollout to Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, and will sell the new SUV in the Dutch market starting at 57,990 euros or about $62,000, Automotive News reported. 

That price tag undercuts by more than 20% premium rivals such as the BMW i3X, which starts from 71,488 euros, or $76, 619, in the Netherlands. 

For its part, BMX recently introduced electric variants to its 5 Series.

'Playing Nice in Beijing's Sandbox'

And since no electric vehicle story would seem complete without a reference to Elon Musk, Reuters reported that the Tesla  (TSLA) - Get Free Report CEO's private jet was spotted at Beijing airport on May 30.

The U.S. and China are Tesla's two biggest markets and the regions where the world leader in electric vehicles manufactures the vast majority of its cars.

The carmaker is awaiting the green light from the Chinese authorities to increase production at the Shanghai factory, as well as their decision on full-self-driving, Tesla's driver-assistance system enabling its cars to be partly autonomous.

While the geopolitical tensions between the US and China are increasing, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in an investors note that "Tesla (as swell as Apple) finds itself in a tight wire act to balance its success and production within China which remains a vital market on both the supply and demand front."

Ives said that this Musk's comes at a key time with the EV price wars underway domestically as gaining market share against domestic competitors--such as Xpeng and Nio--"is right now front and center for the Tesla story."

"Playing nice in the sandbox in Beijing is something the Street is laser focused on to make sure there are no disruptions to Tesla's expansion and tentacles within China for the coming years as this remains the #1 EV market in the world," the analyst wrote.

Ives, who maintained his outperform rating with $215 price target, said he looks "forward to any developments from Musk's key China visit this week." 

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