Phone Maker Xiaomi Made the Car That Apple Couldn’t | EUROtoday

You greater than possible know Xiaomi, so-called Apple of China, as a maker of smartphones that provide a good different to Samsung. You may additionally learn about its smartwatches, robotic vacuums and electrical scooters. Good, if usually unoriginal design, offered at a aggressive value.

But do you know it additionally sells automobiles? Xiaomi Auto leapt into the packed EV market solely in March 2024, but already has a success on its arms with the SU7. An electrical sedan not dissimilar to the Porsche Taycan, it attracted nearly 90,000 orders inside 24 hours of happening sale—a stat that possible makes it the fastest-selling automobile of all time.

As effectively as flying out the door, the SU7 flies across the racetrack, too. A pumped-up model, referred to as the SU7 Ultra and packing greater than 1,500 horsepower, set a brand new Nurburgring lap file in November, beating each the Rimac Nevera and Porsche Taycan Turbo GT by over 15 seconds across the 12.9-mile course. Even extra remarkably, it set the 6:46.9 file on a moist monitor and with an obvious lack of energy part-way spherical.

Photography: Xiaomi Press

Before we get too carried away, it’s vital to caveat this by saying, sure, smartphone maker Xiaomi set a stonking lap time, but it surely did so utilizing a stripped-out prototype that isn’t avenue authorized. It’s additionally price stating how the Nio EP9—additionally an electrical idea—went fractionally faster manner again in 2017, and the Volkswagen ID.R holds the outright electrical lap file, at 6:05.3.

Back to the street-legal SU7. The automobile offered so effectively at launch that Xiaomi Auto has raised its 2024 supply forecast 3 times since, up from an preliminary purpose of 76,000 to 130,000 by mid-November.

According to Chinese auto trade professional Mark Rainford, that revised determine is “more than even XPeng managed to deliver in the year to September,” regardless of promoting automobiles for the previous six years and working in a number of worldwide markets. November additionally noticed Xiaomi submit a 30.5 p.c improve in third-quarter income.

Even Ford Boss Loves Xiaomi

But don’t simply have a look at the gross sales figures. Ford CEO Jim Farley lately admitted to not solely driving a Xiaomi automobile within the US, however after six months he didn’t need to give it again. Speaking on the Everything Elecctric Show podcast in October, Farley mentioned: “Everyone was talking about the Apple car. But the Xiaomi car, which now exists and it’s fantastic; they sell 10,000, 20,000 a month—they are sold out for six months. That is an industry juggernaut, and [it comes from] a consumer brand that is much stronger than car companies.”

“I don’t like talking about the competition so much,” continued Farley, “but I drive a Xiaomi. We flew one from Shanghai to Chicago and I’ve been driving it for six months now and I don’t want to give it up.”

Photography: Xiaomi Press

The Chinese EV market is extremely crowded, however Xiaomi’s first entry stands out owing to its premium styling (even when it seems to borrow considerably from the Taycan) and low value. The SU7 begins from underneath $30,000, inserting it $4,000 beneath the Tesla Model 3 in China. Even the hypercar-powerful SU7 Ultra looks as if good worth, with a manufacturing model set to price round $112,500 when it goes on sale in March 2025.

With only one mannequin in manufacturing, Xiaomi will already look to make full use of its personal, 20,000 cars-per-month manufacturing facility—itself a rarity amongst auto startups, who often favor to outsource the huge expense of constructing automobiles to others in a bid to sidestep the rising pains Elon Musk as soon as described as “production hell”.

There isn’t any scarcity of Chinese electrical automobile firms queuing as much as tackle Tesla. BYD has come closest when it comes to outright gross sales, whereas underneath new Chinese possession a resurgent MG has seen success by undercutting Tesla within the UK market. Of course, prohibitive tariffs imply Chinese-made automobiles usually are not viable, or certainly welcome, within the US—and keep in mind, that features autos in-built China by manufacturers from elsewhere, such because the Mini Cooper and Aceman, and the Polestar 2, no less than till manufacturing within the UK and US comes on-line.