Phone Maker Xiaomi Made the Car That Apple Couldn't

You much than apt cognize Xiaomi, alleged Apple of China, arsenic a shaper of smartphones that connection a decent alternate to Samsung. You mightiness besides cognize astir its smartwatches, robotic vacuums and electrical scooters. Good, if often unoriginal design, sold astatine a competitory price.

But did you cognize it besides sells cars? Xiaomi Auto leapt into the packed EV marketplace lone successful March 2024, yet already has a deed connected its hands with the SU7. An electrical sedan not dissimilar to the Porsche Taycan, it attracted astir 90,000 orders wrong 24 hours of going connected sale—a stat that apt makes it the fastest-selling car of each time.

As good arsenic flying retired the door, the SU7 flies astir the racetrack, too. A pumped-up version, called the SU7 Ultra and packing much than 1,500 horsepower, acceptable a caller Nurburgring thigh grounds successful November, beating some the Rimac Nevera and Porsche Taycan Turbo GT by implicit 15 seconds astir the 12.9-mile course. Even much remarkably, it set the 6:46.9 record connected a damp way and with an evident nonaccomplishment of powerfulness part-way round.

Before we get excessively carried away, it’s important to caveat this by saying, yes, smartphone shaper Xiaomi acceptable a stonking thigh time, but it did truthful utilizing a stripped-out prototype that isn’t thoroughfare legal. It’s besides worthy stating however the Nio EP9—also an electrical concept—went fractionally quicker mode backmost successful 2017, and the Volkswagen ID.R holds the outright electrical thigh record, astatine 6:05.3.

Back to the street-legal SU7. The car sold truthful good astatine motorboat that Xiaomi Auto has raised its 2024 transportation forecast three times since, up from an archetypal extremity of 76,000 to 130,000 by mid-November.

According to Chinese car manufacture adept Mark Rainford, that revised fig is “more than adjacent XPeng managed to present successful the twelvemonth to September,” contempt selling cars for the past six years and operating successful aggregate planetary markets. November besides saw Xiaomi station a 30.5 percent summation successful third-quarter revenue.

Even Ford Boss Loves Xiaomi

But don’t conscionable look astatine the income figures. Ford CEO Jim Farley precocious admitted to not lone driving a Xiaomi car successful the US, but aft six months helium didn’t privation to springiness it back. Speaking connected the Everything Elecctric Show podcast successful October, Farley said: “Everyone was talking astir the Apple car. But the Xiaomi car, which present exists and it’s fantastic; they merchantability 10,000, 20,000 a month—they are sold retired for six months. That is an manufacture juggernaut, and [it comes from] a user marque that is overmuch stronger than car companies.”

“I don’t similar talking astir the contention truthful much,” continued Farley, “but I thrust a Xiaomi. We flew 1 from Shanghai to Chicago and I’ve been driving it for six months present and I don’t privation to springiness it up.”

The Chinese EV market is incredibly crowded, but Xiaomi’s archetypal introduction stands retired owing to its premium styling (even if it appears to get somewhat from the Taycan) and debased price. The SU7 starts from nether $30,000, placing it $4,000 beneath the Tesla Model 3 successful China. Even the hypercar-powerful SU7 Ultra seems similar bully value, with a accumulation mentation acceptable to outgo astir $112,500 erstwhile it goes connected merchantability successful March 2025.

With conscionable 1 exemplary successful production, Xiaomi volition already look to marque afloat usage of its own, 20,000 cars-per-month factory—itself a rarity among car startups, who usually similar to outsource the immense disbursal of gathering cars to others successful a bid to sidestep the increasing pains Elon Musk erstwhile described arsenic “production hell”.

There is nary shortage of Chinese electrical car companies queuing up to instrumentality connected Tesla. BYD has travel closest successful presumption of outright sales, portion nether caller Chinese ownership a resurgent MG has seen occurrence by undercutting Tesla successful the UK market. Of course, prohibitive tariffs mean Chinese-made cars are not viable, oregon so welcome, successful the US—and remember, that includes vehicles built successful China by brands from elsewhere, specified arsenic the Mini Cooper and Aceman, and the Polestar 2, astatine slightest until accumulation successful the UK and US comes online.