XPeng's Wang Tan: AI Will Redefine Automotive Design Goals, Processes, and Organization

At the 4th Future Mobility Pioneer Conference, Wang Tan, General Manager of XPeng Motors’ Styling Design Center and Co-founder of XPeng AeroHT, delivered a speech highlighting that AI’s operational logic closely mirrors human cognition. He predicted that AI will drive a threefold transformation in automotive design: redefinition of objectives, restructuring of processes, and reorganization of teams. Wang explained that AI can extract design directions directly from user needs, deduce subsequent design steps after initial sketching, and generate personalized proposals using brand-specific small models trained on the brand’s unique design language. He emphasized that traditional automotive design relies heavily on designer intuition and typically requires over 20 months before market validation; with AI, however, preferences can be distilled directly from user data to rapidly produce near-optimal design solutions. Regarding workflow, Wang noted that conventional automotive design follows a linear process taking approximately 10 months—from concept to clay modeling—whereas AI enables parallel, closed-loop processing across all stages. For instance, 2D renderings can be instantly converted into 3D models while simultaneously undergoing dimensional-chain analysis and cost estimation. On the organizational front, designers may evolve into “design directors,” leveraging multiple AI agents and brand-specific small models to screen and finalize design options, thereby enhancing both efficiency and precision. Wang also cautioned that while AI can capture commonalities in human aesthetics, emotional dimensions such as brand heritage, material tactility, and driving experience remain areas where AI cannot easily replace human insight. Additionally, he shared XPeng’s design practices amid the trends of electrification and intelligentization. These include the P7 model, which carries forward its original design ethos through a “skeleton + skin” approach, and XPeng AeroHT’s world’s first mass-produced flying car, the “Land Aircraft Carrier.” Measuring 5.5 meters in length and 2 meters in both width and height, the vehicle features rear-wheel steering and employs visual weight-reduction design to enhance perceived agility. Its mass-production facility has already been established in Huangpu District, Guangzhou.