Chinese EV maker Xpeng's board vice-chairman and co-president Brian Gu said that the carmaker was not planning to sell its cars in Europe in order to provide a cheap alternative but to bring its technology.

Brian Gu, Xpeng’s co-president, argued Wednesday that fierce local competition, not state support, explains China’s EV success.

If EU tariffs are approved, Xpeng will be slapped with an additional 21.3% surtax. The brand also sees the US as an important market but can’t launch locally, at least not yet. Xpeng is open to contract manufacturing in Europe.

A new highly transmissible COVID-19 strain that first appeared in Europe is now beginning to spread in the United States. Called XEC, the offshoot of the Omicron strain was initially identified in Germany early this past summer before quickly spreading throughout Europe.

A new Covid variant has been reported across the globe with fears it will soon be the dominant strain of the illness. Cases of the XEC variant, first detected in Germany in June, have since been reported in the UK,

XEC is a recombinant variant, meaning it’s a hybrid of two previously existing variants. Genomic data suggests it’s making up around 5% of cases in Australia – but it may grow.