Tesla might reign supreme as the world's leading EV automaker, but its competitors are gearing up for a full-frontal attack. Industry experts expect Tesla to lose its electric superiority as soon as 2025 as the likes of GM and Ford prepare to launch highly-anticipated EV models such as the Ford F-150 Lightning and Hummer EV. But that's not all; the sleeping dragon that is China has awoken and is throwing massive resources behind its push for global EV dominance. Companies such as tech giant Huawei have started investing in the EV industry, and startups such as Nio are making strong headway into the Chinese market, but Tesla could now be facing Chinese competition at home, thanks to Xpeng's plans of international growth.

The Chinese electric startup Xpeng, which began deliveries of its P5 Sedan in October, is planning to make a big global move, and according to its vice president and chairman Brian Gu, the company is aiming to enter Scandinavian markets such as Denmark and Sweden, and European nations such as the Netherlands in 2022, with future plans including a step into American markets.

Xpeng started its global expansion when it entered the Norwegian market in December 2020, a country where government incentives have greatly boosted EV sales. Fellow Chinese EV manufacturer Nio has also set up a base of operations there.

"As a company that focuses on global opportunities, we want to be balanced with our contribution of delivery - half from China, half from outside China - in the long run," Gu told CNBC.

Since its founding six years ago, the company has produced just over 100,000 cars. In 2019, Gu revealed that it would have to produce 150,000 cars a year if it wanted to break even in two to three years. US-listed Xpeng's stock price rose 8 percent overnight when it reported higher than expected revenue numbers. Currently, 46.6 percent of Tesla's sales are from the domestic market, while 22.6 percent of its sales can be attributed to the Chinese market. That's up 2.6 percent from last year. The Tesla Model 3 and Model Y have proven to be wildly popular in that country. These figures will intimate any competitor, and Xpeng has its work cut out if it wants to make a serious dent in Tesla's local sales figures.