Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi announced it had delivered over 20,000 SU7 electric vehicles (EVs) in October as it ramps up production in China’s fiercely competitive EV market. The company, which revealed plans to manufacture cars in 2021, reiterated its goal to deliver 100,000 SU7 vehicles by the end of November.
Xiaomi released the basic version of the SU7, its first car, in late March for approximately $4,000 less than Tesla’s cheapest vehicle in China at the time, the Model 3. Following Xiaomi’s release, Tesla reduced the Model 3’s price by about $2,000. To date, Xiaomi has delivered over 75,000 SU7 cars, including October’s figures.
Chinese rivals Xpeng and Nio took about six years to produce 100,000 electric cars, while it took Tesla 12 years. Although Xpeng delivered a monthly record of over 20,000 cars in September, with about half attributed to its newly launched, lower-cost brand Mona, Nio has struggled to maintain monthly deliveries above 20,000 cars.
Zeekr, an electric car brand founded by automaker Geely, claimed it produced more than 100,000 vehicles in 1.5 years and delivered a record 21,333 cars in September.
Xiaomi also announced it was taking preorders for the high-end sports version, SU7 Ultra, starting at 814,900 yuan ($114,304), ahead of a product release in March 2025. The company claimed that within 10 minutes, it received over 3,600 preorders, each requiring a 10,000 yuan deposit. The new model and its achievements on the Nurburgring race track in Germany will likely help Xiaomi sell more of its premium SU7 Max car, which costs just 299,900 yuan. Xiaomi claimed a prototype of the SU7 Ultra this week became the fastest four-door sedan to complete the German race track.
In September, Tesla’s Model Y was the best-selling battery-powered electric car in China with 48,202 vehicles sold, according to data from Chinese car industry site Autohome. The Model 3 ranked 8th with nearly 24,000 cars sold. Xiaomi’s SU7 ranked 17th last month with 13,559 cars sold. Currently, Xiaomi only sells its cars in China, and the company told CNBC earlier this year that it would take at least two to three years for any overseas launch.
Source: [CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/30/chinese-smartphone-company-xiaomi-delivers-20000-su7-evs-in-october.html)
