Toyota Alphard Inspires Xpeng X9 Development

KatadataOTO – It is undeniable that in vehicle development, each brand certainly pays attention to models from other competitors. This includes Xpeng, which used the Toyota Alphard as a reference when developing the X9.

The role of the Toyota Alphard as an inspiration is because the model is a pioneer in the Premium MPV segment. Therefore, it is natural for Xpeng to use it as a benchmark in vehicle development.

“The Toyota Alphard is the car that inspired us when designing and producing the X9. I use it myself and admit that the model is an extraordinary vehicle and offers a lot of comfort,” said He Xiaopeng, Chairman & CEO of Xpeng, at the Xpeng Global Brand Night event in Hong Kong (16/04).

At the event, which was attended directly by KatadataOTO, he revealed that during the development period, his team strove to make the Xpeng X9 better than the Toyota Alphard. One of the main focuses was the vehicle's suspension.

Photo : Courtesy

According to him, the Toyota Alphard is very comfortable in reducing shocks even when driving on bad roads. So his team was quite focused on meeting that challenge.

“The Xpeng X9 now uses AI technology so it can anticipate obstacles on the road. When the sensor sees it, the suspension will be adjusted so that shocks inside the cabin can be much more dampened,” he then emphasized.

Not only that, its newest suspension also makes the car more stable when making sharp maneuvers. So the usual feeling of body roll can be minimized.

“In addition, we also invested a very large amount of funds to reduce noise inside the cabin. The results can be felt directly in the Xpeng X9,” he added.

Photo : Courtesy

In internal testing, the noise outside the vehicle was 90.4 db. However, in the Toyota Alphard's cabin, the incoming noise was only 56.1 db, while in the Xpeng X9 the figure was even smaller at 52.9 db.

These many advantages are believed to be enough to make the Xpeng X9 a leader in its segment. Especially in China, its sales in 2024 have already become the highest with a figure of  21,141 units.

That number is ahead of the Zeekr 009 in second place and the Toyota Alphard with 16,701 units.