Chinese electric vehicle startup Xiaomi is already developing a Tesla Model Y rival after just a month of launching its inaugural model, the SU7 electric sedan.
Xiaomi benchmarks its new model against the Tesla Model Y
Xiaomi aims to roll out a new electric sport utility vehicle to challenge the Tesla Model Y as early as 2025, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Chinese electric automaker reportedly had already held internal talks about its planned electric SUV in 2021, even benchmarking the model to the world’s top-selling vehicle from the American EV giant.
However, Xiaomi decided to launch the SU7 sedan first before the yet-to-be-named electric SUV.
Apart from Tesla, the move would also put the brand against other co-Chinese rivals like BYD, NIO, and XPeng.
Strong customer demand for the Xiaomi SU7
Xiaomi received strong customer demand for the SU7 electric sedan in the Chinese market.
It proudly disclosed that the Xiaomi SU7 secured 50,000 orders within the first 27 minutes of market launch. Impressively, 10,000 of that total ensued in just the first 4 minutes of opening the order books on March 28, 2024. On April 3, the company had already delivered a total of 5,000 Xiaomi SU7s.
Xiaomi delivered an impressive 7,058 units of the SU7 throughout April 2024. On May 1, the SU7 had already recorded 88,063 “locked-in” orders backlog.
All that said, the Xioami SU7’s order books are fully filled for the entire 2024. It has an expected output of approximately 100,000 units by the end of the year.
Xiaomi’s production capacity
Xiaomi reportedly plans to kick off the mass production of the new electric SUV in late 2025 after the Phase II construction of its Beijing factory. For context, Phase I is set to produce around 150,000 EVs annually upon completion next month.
Xiaomi has yet to reveal specific details about the Tesla Model Y rival near its official debut. Its projected demand also remains unclear, as it may still shift based on the overall production output.
As of today, Xiaomi’s production capacity is approximately 10,000 units per month. However, it aims to further expand the capacity to 300,000 EVs per year after the completion of the factory’s second phase of construction.
Apart from the Tesla Model Y challenger, Xiaomi is also apparently planning to launch another model with a cheaper price tag. An unnamed source claimed it would arrive as the brand’s third EV offering with a price point of $20,000.
