Xpeng's Launch Gaffe Puts Marketing Ahead of Product
On October 15, Xpeng held the presale launch event for its MONA L05, and the person on stage was not a veteran executive but a product manager born in the 2000s. According to accounts of the event, she used the term lao deng — roughly “old geezer,” a slang jab at older generations — several times while presenting the car. The clip spread quickly, and so did the irritation.
The criticism that followed is not really about one word. It is about what the word reveals: a launch that seemed designed to generate a reaction rather than to explain a product. Commentators asked a blunt question — what is a car company’s most important core capability? Answers vary, but no serious automaker would say on the record that its core strength is marketing, and certainly not this kind of marketing.
Xpeng is not a newcomer that needs shock tactics to be noticed. It is one of China’s established electric-vehicle makers, listed in New York and Hong Kong, with a multi-model lineup and a reputation built partly on driver-assistance software. MONA, its more affordable sub-brand, was created to reach younger, first-time EV buyers — a segment where price and value are scrutinized hard and gimmicks wear thin fast.
That makes the episode more costly than a bad soundbite. The L05 is a presale launch, the moment when a model accumulates orders and credibility before deliveries begin. Buyers in this price band compare battery range, charging speed, cabin space and warranty terms line by line. A launch that hands rivals a clip to mock is a launch that has spent its attention budget on the wrong thing.
The broader context is a Chinese EV market where new models arrive in waves and price cuts have become routine. Several automakers have recently been told by regulators to stop exaggerating and to test more rigorously, a signal that the industry’s promotional culture has drawn scrutiny. In a crowded field, standing out matters — but the difference between memorable and cringeworthy is usually whether the product does the talking.
There is a fair counterargument. Younger buyers respond to brands that speak their language, and a 20-something presenter is a genuine attempt to look like the customer base rather than a boardroom. Chinese consumer marketing has grown comfortable with self-mocking, internet-native tone. The problem is calibration: slang aimed at a generation can land as contempt for everyone else in the room, including the parents who often co-sign the purchase.
The test now is whether Xpeng treats this as a lesson or a stunt. The company has not publicly addressed the reaction in the accounts available. What it does next matters more than the clip: whether the L05’s specifications and pricing hold up in comparison tests, whether presale order numbers are released with detail, and whether future launches put an engineer or a designer at the microphone instead of a meme.
For global readers, the episode is a small window into how competitive China’s EV market has become. When the hardware converges, brands fight over attention. The winners are usually the ones that can hold it long enough to explain why the car is worth the money — not the ones that get a laugh at the expense of half their audience.