Tesla’s era to fade? Xiaomi’s EV to be the new “Dream Car”
Chinese brand Xiaomi, popularly known for its smartphone manufacturing has set foot in China’s Automotive Industry with an Electric car that is $4K cheaper than Tesla’s Model 3. According to Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun, the SU7 standard edition for China is 215,900 yuan ($30,408), a cost he understood would result in the business losing money on each vehicle sold. To be noted that Tesla’s Model 3 starts at 245,900 yuan in China.
He also claimed that the company’s first electric vehicle will be the ‘best-looking, easiest to drive, and smartest car’ priced below 500,000 yuan ($69,180). A ‘dream car’ comparable to Porsche and Tesla.”
Lei Jun stated that the SU7 standard model outperformed the Model 3 in over 90% of its specifications, except in two areas where he predicted it would take Xiaomi at least three to five years to overtake Tesla. In addition, he stated that the Model 3's minimum driving range was 606 kilometers, while the SU7's was 700 kilometers.
It was reported that Sales began at 10 p.m. Beijing time on Thursday, and to their surprise, the business reported that in the 27 minutes since the announcement, orders have topped 50,000 cars.
According to Lei, deliveries should begin before the end of April. Lei added that an SU7 can be produced at Xiaomi's auto plant in 76 seconds, with all "key" procedures completely automated.
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Lei’s big statement has suddenly raised the temperature of the overcrowded market of China’s Autpmtovie industry as he also claimed, “If we want to build good cars, we must seriously learn from these two best car manufacturers in the world.”
The car is going into a very competitive market in China, where businesses are already lowering their prices and introducing a lot of new models to stay in business. The massive Chinese telecom company Huawei has formed partnerships with conventional manufacturers. One such partnership was the introduction of the Aito brand, whose cars are frequently on show in Huawei smartphone dealerships.
In China, There are currently more than 200 major manufacturers producing pure EVs and plug-in hybrids. Even Official records show that in 2023, average profit margins dropped to barely 5%. The industry leader, BYD, reported earlier this week that sales stalled and its quarterly profit growth was the lowest in the previous two years.
According to reports, Tesla's Model 3 is the best-selling new energy sedan in China with a driving range of at least 600 kilometers (372 miles) and a price tag of less than 500,000 yuan.
While The starting price of BYD's Han sedan is 169,800 yuan. According to the data, Xpeng's P7 starts at 209,900 yuan, while Nio's ET5 starts at 298,000 yuan. The starting price of the Geely-owned Zeekr 007 car is 209,900 yuan in the Chinese EV market.
As far as Xiaomi is concerned, Xiaomi’s SU7 has been on display in showrooms in 29 cities across mainland China since Monday. Additionally, In 2021, Xiaomi announced that it would invest $10 billion over the next decade into a subsidiary focused on smart EVs.
The SU7 is part of Xiaomi’s recently launched “Human x Car x Home” strategy that seeks to build an ecosystem of devices connected to its new HyperOS operating system. Thus it would be interesting to watch to see how Xiaomi will come up with new strategies and marketing initiatives to stay ahead of the leading EV brands in a market where EVs are already priced much lower than in the rest of the world.
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