Xpeng Heads to the Middle East, Li Auto Launches the i6, and BYD Undercuts Its Own Qin Plus

Representative image (AI-generated; cars shown are illustrative, not the actual models)

China's EV makers didn't slow down this week: three separate moves show how aggressively they're pushing on price, range and geography all at once.

Xpeng's GX and G9L head to the Middle East

Xpeng said on 27 October, via its Weibo account and as reported by CnEVPost, that its GX and G9L will launch in the Middle East next week. Xpeng's overseas retail footprint has already crossed 1,200 stores, and pre-orders for the GX alone stand at roughly 4,000 units, strong early numbers for a market Xpeng is only just entering seriously.

Li Auto's 2026 i6 keeps the price, raises the spec

On 28 October, Li Auto launched the 2026 i6 at the same price as the outgoing model, but with its in-house M100 chip now standard and a bigger 96 kWh battery. Keeping the price flat while adding a proprietary chip and more battery capacity is a classic Chinese-EV-market move: compete on value for money even as costs rise, rather than passing the cost on to buyers.

BYD's Qin Plus DM-i Gen 3: 76,900 yuan, limited-time

BYD launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i on 27 October at a limited-time starting price of 76,900 yuan (roughly ₹9.5 lakh; the regular guide price is 79,900 yuan), with up to 220 km of pure-electric range on its plug-in hybrid setup. The Qin Plus has long been one of BYD's best-selling nameplates domestically, and a new generation at an aggressive price point is BYD doubling down on its core volume business even as it expands internationally.

The bigger picture

None of the three (Xpeng, Li Auto or BYD) is selling directly in India right now in any meaningful volume. But the pattern across all three stories is the same: Chinese EV and plug-in-hybrid makers are simultaneously pushing into new export markets like the Middle East, and sharpening their price-to-spec ratio at home. Going global and getting cheaper at the same time is exactly what makes Chinese EV makers such a serious long-term competitive threat everywhere, India included.