Phone Maker Xiaomi Made the Car That Apple Couldn’t

You greater than doubtless know Xiaomi, so-called Apple of China, as a maker of smartphones that provide an honest different to Samsung. You may additionally find out about its smartwatches, robotic vacuums, and electrical scooters. Good, if typically unoriginal design, bought at a aggressive value.

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

In addition to flying out the door, the SU7 flies across the racetrack too. A pumped-up model, known as the SU7 Ultra, 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. Much more remarkably, it set the 6:46.9 record on a humid monitor and with an obvious lack of energy part-way spherical.

Earlier than we get too carried away, it’s necessary 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 road authorized. It’s additionally value 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.

Again to the street-legal SU7. The automobile bought so effectively at launch that Xiaomi Auto has raised its 2024 supply forecast thrice since, up from an preliminary aim of 76,000 to 130,000 by mid-November.

In response to Chinese language auto business professional Mark Rainford, that revised determine is “greater than even XPeng managed to ship within the 12 months to September,” regardless of promoting automobiles for the previous six years and working in a number of worldwide markets. November additionally noticed Xiaomi put up a 30.5 p.c enhance in third-quarter income.

Even Ford Boss Loves Xiaomi

However don’t simply have a look at the gross sales figures. Ford CEO Jim Farley not too long ago admitted to driving a Xiaomi automobile within the US, and after six months he didn’t wish to give it again. Talking on the Everything Elecctric Show podcast in October, Farley mentioned: “Everybody was speaking concerning the Apple automobile. However the Xiaomi automobile, which now exists and it’s incredible—they promote 10,000, 20,000 a month. They’re bought out for six months. That’s an business juggernaut, and [it comes from] a shopper model that’s a lot stronger than automobile firms.”

“I don’t like speaking concerning the competitors a lot,” continued Farley, “however 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 wish to give it up.”

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 Extremely 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 want 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 “manufacturing hell.”

There isn’t a scarcity of Chinese language electrical automobile firms queuing as much as tackle Tesla. BYD has come closest when it comes to outright gross sales, whereas underneath new Chinese language possession a resurgent MG has seen success by undercutting Tesla within the UK market. After all, prohibitive tariffs imply Chinese language-made automobiles aren’t viable, or certainly welcome, within the US—and bear in mind, that features automobiles inbuilt China by manufacturers from elsewhere, such because the Mini Cooper and Aceman, and the Polestar 2, not less than till manufacturing within the UK and US comes on-line.