Xiaomi makes the car that Apple failed to achieve

It is more than likely that you know Xiaomi, the so-called Apple of Chinaas a manufacturer of smartphones which offer a decent alternative to Samsung. You may also know their smartwatchesits robotic vacuum cleaners and its scooters. Good design, although often unoriginal, sold at a competitive price.

But did you know that it also sells cars? Xiaomi Auto jumped into the crowded market electric vehicles in March 2024, and he already has a hit on his hands with the SU7. It is an electric vehicle similar to the Porsche Taycan, which attracted almost 90,000 orders within 24 hours of going on sale, a figure that will probably make it the fastest selling car of all time.

In addition to flying out of the gate, the SU7 also flies in a circuit. An improved version, called SU7 Ultrawith more than 1,500 hp, set a new Nurburgring lap record in November, beating the Rimac Nevera and Porsche Taycan Turbo GT by more than 15 seconds on the 12.9-mile circuit. Even more surprising, he set the record of 6:46.9 on a wet track and with an apparent loss of power mid-lap.

But before we get too carried away, it is important to clarify that, yes, the manufacturer of smartphones Xiaomi has set an impressive lap time, but it has done so with a sloppy prototype that is not street legal. It’s also worth noting that the Nio EP9 (also an electric concept) was slightly faster in 2017, and that the Volkswagen ID.R holds the all-time electric lap record, at 6:05.3.

Let’s go back to the street SU7. The car sold so well upon its launch that Xiaomi Auto has increased its delivery forecast three times for 2024 since then, going from an initial goal of 76,000 to 130,000 by mid-November.

According to Chinese auto industry expert Mark Rainford, that revised figure is “more than even XPeng managed to deliver in the year to September,” despite selling cars for the past six years and operating in multiple international markets. In November, Xiaomi also posted a 30.5% increase in third-quarter revenue.

BYD surpasses Tesla in electric car sales

The Chinese giant recorded sales of $28.2 billion between July and September, surpassing the $25.2 billion of its American rival, but the Chinese price war is eroding margins while Europe raises customs barriers.

Even the boss of Ford likes Xiaomi

But let’s not just look at the sales figures. Ford CEO Jim Farley recently admitted to driving a Xiaomi in the United States and, after six months, did not want to return it. In October, on the podcast Everything Electric ShowFarley said: “Everyone was talking about the Apple car. But the Xiaomi car, which already exists and is fantastic, sells 10,000, 20,000 a month. They sell out for six months. That’s an industry monster, and [viene de] a consumer brand that is much stronger than car companies.”

“I don’t like to talk so much about the competition (Farley continued), but I drive a Xiaomi. We took one from Shanghai to Chicago, and I’ve been driving it for six months, and I don’t want to leave it.”

Xiaomi SU7.Xiaomi Press.

He Chinese electric vehicle market It’s incredibly saturated, but Xiaomi’s first entry stands out for its style premium (although it seems to borrow something from the Taycan) and its low price. The SU7 costs less than $30,000which puts it $4,000 below the Tesla Model 3 in China. Even the SU7 Ultra, the most powerful of the hypercars, appears to be good value for money, with a production version set to cost around $112,500 when it goes on sale in March 2025.

With only one model in production, Xiaomi will already try to make full use of its own manufacturing factory. 20,000 vehicles per montha rarity among auto startups, which typically prefer to outsource the enormous expense of building cars to third parties in an attempt to avoid the growth pains that Elon Musk once described as “production hell.”