Shares of Chinese electric vehicle startup Xpeng surged as much as 67% in their trading debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Thursday, after the company expanded its initial public offering (IPO) due to strong demand.

Xpeng’s American depository shares (ADS) opened at $23.10, versus an offer price of $15, before closing at $21.22, marking a 41% gain on their first day.

Earlier, Xpeng raised about $1.5 billion by selling 99.7 million ADSs. The Guangzhou-based carmaker had originally planned to sell 85 million shares priced between $11 and $13 apiece, but boosted both figures due to strong demand.

Xpeng will use the proceeds from the IPO to develop new electric cars and technologies as well as expand sales channels, according to its prospectus.

The Xpeng IPO is the third major listing in the U.S. by a Chinese electric vehicle maker in the past two years. It follows in the footsteps of Nio, which went public on the NYSE with a $1 billion IPO in 2018; and Li Auto, which raised $1.1 billion in its Nasdaq debut in July this year.

Established in 2015, Xpeng has yet to turn a profit. The company said in its prospectus that it made a net loss of $113 million on revenue of $142 million in the first half of 2020.

As of the end of July, Xpeng had sold more than 20,000 electric vehicles, including the G3 sports utility vehicles and the new P7 sports sedans, according the prospectus.

In June, Xpeng released photos of the inside of its new wholly owned factory that produces the P7 in an attempt to distinguish itself from most of its Chinese peers whose cars are made under contract by bigger automakers.

Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com)

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