- Du Chao, a Wall Street banker with extensive experience in overseas IPO financing, has joined Xpeng Aeroht.
- Du previously served as CFO at 17 Education & Technology and led the company’s listing on the Nasdaq.
Xpeng’s (NYSE: XPEV) flying car unit, Xpeng Aeroht, has appointed its first-ever CFO (chief financial officer), a move that could potentially pave the way for an accelerated IPO (initial public offering).
Du Chao, who spent 10 years at Deutsche Bank, has joined Xpeng Aeroht as CFO and vice president, according to a report by local media outlet Sina Tech today, citing the company.
Du graduated from the University of Hong Kong and led the completion of dozens of overseas IPO financing and cross-border M&A projects during his 10 years at Deutsche Bank, the report noted.
After leaving Deutsche Bank, he joined 17 Education & Technology (Nasdaq: YQ) as CFO, overseeing the company’s finance, strategy, business analysis, investor relations, and legal affairs, and leading the company through its IPO on the Nasdaq in the US.
Xpeng Aeroht’s latest move is seen as a signal that it is accelerating its IPO plans.
The company has future IPO plans but is currently focused on R&D and mass production, Xpeng Aeroht told Sina Tech.
This is a normal talent recruitment move, as the company previously did not have a CFO, Xpeng Aeroht said.
Xpeng Aeroht originated in 2013 and was officially established in 2020 as the technology division majority-owned by Guangzhou-based Xpeng and its chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng.
Last month, Bloomberg reported that Xpeng was considering an IPO for Xpeng Aeroht, having invited multiple banks to participate, with the IPO potentially taking place in Hong Kong or the US.
At its tech day event on October 24, 2023, Xpeng said that Aeroht’s flying car development path would include eVTOL (Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing) flying cars and modular flying cars.
The modular flying car consists of a flying car and a mother vehicle capable of recharging the flying body.
Xpeng Aeroht planned to achieve mass production and delivery of the modular flying car by 2026, with a price tag not exceeding RMB 2 million ($278,240), according to Zhao Deli, the company’s founder and president, at a press conference on September 3, 2024.
In October 2024, construction began on Xpeng Aeroht’s flying car manufacturing facility, with an annual production capacity of 10,000 units.
This is the world’s first flying car factory to utilize modern assembly lines for large-scale mass production, which would be used to produce the flying body of the modular flying car, the company previously said.
($1 = RMB 7.1880)
Xpeng Aeroht said its mass-production factory for flying cars is now 70 percent complete and is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter.
