Lei Jun, CEO of Chinese technology company Xiaomi, says the company's first electric car, the SU7, will hit the market sooner than expected and will cost less than $69,400, CNBC reported. This is equivalent to about 64,000 euros.
“The goal of the Xiaomi SU7 is to be the best-looking, best-driving and smartest sedan under 500,000 yuan (about $69,328),” Lei Jun said in a post on Chinese social media service Weibo.
According to CNBC, Xiaomi will officially put the SU7 on sale and begin accepting orders starting Thursday. The company's CEO emphasized that the vehicle will be displayed in Xiaomi stores in 29 cities in China and test drives will be offered starting Thursday.
Xiaomi aims at the premium market and wants to surpass Tesla
According to previous statements by Xiaomi Group President Weibing Lu to CNBC, his company is targeting the premium segment of the electric car market. This would put Xiaomi in direct competition with Tesla in China, whose Model S starts at a selling price of 698,900 yuan (a good $96,900) and the Model 3 starts at 245,900 yuan ($34,100).
Tesla generates almost $97 billion in sales annually
In 2023, Tesla generated the most sales in its home US market, around $45.2 billion. In addition, sales were recorded in China, around 21.7 billion dollars. Sales in all other countries except the US and China were around $29.8 billion in 2023. Tesla founder Elon Musk runs the only GigaFocatory in Europe in Grünheide, Brandenburg.
Looking at its business figures for 2023, Xiaomi shows: Total sales were 271 billion renminbi (or Juan). That's equivalent to about $37 billion. The company increased its adjusted net profit by 126.3 percent to 19.3 billion renminbi.
Xiaomi has to face Chinese competitors like BYD and Nio
In the Chinese electric car market, Xiaomi has to compete with several domestic competitors such as BYD., Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto, which also target the premium segment. Lei Jun was determined and motivated in his position: “Three years ago, I announced that Xiaomi would enter the electric vehicle market. This is my last new adventure”; he is putting his reputation on the line to fight for a vision “in which I deeply believe.”
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