Xiaomi’s first EV, the SU7, is on show at a Xiaomi Automotive supply middle on March 25, 2024 in Hefei, Anhui Province of China. Chinese language tech firm Xiaomi’s first electrical car, the SU7, will likely be formally launched on March 28.Â
Ruan Xuefeng | Visible China Group | Getty Pictures
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun on Monday teased the worth of the Chinese language agency’s first electrical car forward of its official launch this week.
“The aim of the Xiaomi SU7 is to be the perfect trying, finest driving, and most clever sedan below 500,000 yuan ($69,328),” Lei mentioned in a post on Chinese social media service Weibo.
It’s the first time Xiaomi has confirmed the higher finish of the worth vary. On Thursday, Xiaomi will formally launch the SU7 electrical car and start taking orders.
The automobile is on show throughout Xiaomi shops in China in 29 cities, in response to one other Weibo put up by Lei. He mentioned that check drives will start on Thursday.
Xiaomi Group President Weibing Lu told CNBC previously that the corporate is concentrating on the premium section of the electrical automobile market.
That may pit it towards the likes of Tesla in China. For comparability, Tesla’s Mannequin S sedan begins at 698,900 yuan whereas the Mannequin 3 begins at 245,900 yuan.
Xiaomi may also be competing towards a slew of home gamers together with large BYD, Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto, lots of that are additionally concentrating on the premium finish of the EV market.
Xiaomi is best-known as a smartphone and client electronics firm. However in 2021, the corporate announced plans to enter the EV race. Three years later it’s going through a really totally different electrical automobile market in China — one that’s doubtlessly going through a slowdown and the place competitors is cut-throat.
The EV market is within the midst of a price war which was sparked by Tesla at the end of 2022. This has compelled different electric car firms to slash prices with a purpose to stoke demand and keep aggressive, which has pressured margins and profitability across the industry.
Pricing will likely be key for Xiaomi in such a aggressive market and one the place the corporate has no prior historical past. The large wager on EVs from Xiaomi will not be misplaced on CEO Lei.
“Three years in the past, I introduced that Xiaomi was going to enter the EV market. That is my remaining new enterprise — I’m placing my popularity on the road to battle for a imaginative and prescient I deeply believed in,” Lei mentioned in a put up on X.
