China's Xpeng expands self-driving capability to Beijing, eyes wider expansion

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng Inc on Thursday expanded its self-driving capability to Beijing as part of the automaker's expanded launch of City NGP (Navigation Guided Pilot) across the mainland.

City NGP is now available in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing, with plans to expand it to dozens of cities within this year, Xpeng said in a statement.

Xpeng said the latest launch made the company China's first Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) available in the urban areas of Beijing and applicable on the major ring roads and expressways.

City NGP can be accessed on some Xpeng models including G9 Max, P7i Max, and the P5 P version, it added.

Xpeng had said in March that it was upgrading its advanced driver assistance software and planned to make all of its functions available to drivers across China by 2024, as it seeks to gain an edge over U.S. rival Tesla.

(Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Stephen Coates)