Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi announced on Tuesday that it will begin pre-orders for a sports car version of its SU7 electric sedan, priced at more than $110,000.
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Beijing – China Millet say on tuesday Over 20,000 delivered The SU7 electric vehicle was launched in October as the company ramped up production at its electric vehicle joint venture in a highly competitive market.
The Chinese company, known primarily for smartphones and home appliances, reiterated plans to deliver 100,000 SU7 vehicles by the end of November. Xiaomi first revealed plans to produce cars in 2021 and began building a dedicated manufacturing plant in the same year.
The company released a base version of its first car, the SU7, in late March, priced about $4,000 less. TeslaThe cheapest car in China at the time – Model 3. Tesla subsequently lowered the price of the car by about $2,000. Up to now, including October data, Xiaomi SU7 cars have been delivered more than 75,000 units.
Chinese rivals Xpeng Motors and Nioh It took about 6 years to produce 100,000 electric cars, and Tesla took 12 years.
While Xpeng Motors’ monthly deliveries exceeded 20,000 vehicles in September, with about half of sales attributed to its newly launched low-cost brand Mona, Nio has struggled to keep monthly deliveries above 20,000 vehicles.
ZekelThe electric car brand founded by carmaker Geely claims it produces More than 100,000 vehicles Within 1.5 years. A record 21,333 vehicles were delivered in September.
October delivery data from other Chinese EV companies is expected to be released on Friday.
Stansberry Research analyst Brian Tycangco said: “The news that deliveries reached 20,000 units in October confirms that (Xiaomi) will become a force that cannot be ignored in the world’s largest electric vehicle market.”
He said the gross profit margin of Xiaomi’s electric vehicles in August was similar to that of Xpeng Motors that month, and could improve thereafter as production increases.
Xiaomi also announced on Tuesday that it has started taking pre-orders for the high-end sports version of the SU7 Ultra, which will start at 814,900 yuan ($114,304) and will be released in March 2025. A deposit of RMB 10,000 is required.
Citi analysts said in a report that the new model and its performance on Germany’s Nürburgring track could help Xiaomi sell more of its high-end SU7 Max sedan, which sells for just 299,900 yuan. They now expect Xiaomi to deliver 250,000 vehicles next year, up from their previous forecast of 238,000 vehicles.
Xiaomi claims that its SU7 Ultra prototype became the fastest four-door sedan to complete the German circuit this week.
Citi analysts raised Xiaomi’s price target to HK$30.60 ($3.94) from HK$22.70. They also increased their forecasts for the company’s smartphone shipments following the launch of Xiaomi’s flagship Mi 15 phone on Tuesday, the first phone to feature it. Qualcomm Latest chipset.
Millet
Tesla’s Model Y was China’s best-selling electric car in September, with sales of 48,202 units, according to data from Chinese auto industry website Autohome. Model 3 ranked eighth with sales of nearly 24,000 units.
In the pure battery category, BYD’s lower-priced models accounted for most of the other top 10 best-selling models. Data shows that Xiaomi SU7 ranked 17th with sales of 13,559 units last month.
Xiaomi currently only sells its cars in China. The company told CNBC earlier this year that an overseas rollout would take at least two to three years.
—CNBC’s Sonia Heng contributed to this report.
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