China EV giant XPeng to buy rival for more than $740 million

Chinese electric car giant XPeng said Monday it would buy the EV subsidiary of ride-hailing platform Didi for more than $740 million and launch a new brand of vehicles.

Founded in the southern province of Guangdong in 2015, XPeng is one of dozens of Chinese startups to emerge in recent years to take advantage of the boom in electric vehicles in the world’s largest auto market.