Smartphone maker Xiaomi will begin deliveries of its first electric vehicle this month. The price will be announced in the following days.
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi will begin deliveries of its first electric car this month, the company said on Tuesday. The Speed Ultra 7 (SU7) model was announced in December 2023 by CEO Lei Jun in Beijing.
Lei said the SU7 will boast a “super electric motor”, giving the sedan better acceleration than some Porsche or Tesla cars.
Xiaomi is one of China’s largest smartphone makers, but its earnings and profits have stagnated since the pandemic. The company lost ground to other domestic competitors like Huawei or Oneplus.
The company announced it will invest $10 billion in electric car development in the next 10 years. Lei wants the company to become one of the biggest players in EVs in future years, taking advantage of China’s significant subsidies for that market.
The SU7 will receive an official launching event on March 28th, where Xiaomi will also unveil the official price. It will likely be one of the cheapest electric cars on the market, as Chinese companies are currently fighting a bloody price war.
BYD and Tesla have slashed prices multiple times over the last two years, trying to eat into each other’s market. In early 2024, BYD overcame Tesla as the largest EV maker in the world.
A changing market
2023 was a watershed year for the electric vehicle market. China overcame in one single step Japan and Germany, becoming the world’s largest EV producer. The gap is set to widen in the upcoming years, especially thanks to China’s first-mover advantage.
The European car industry, currently the largest in the world, sounded alarm bells at this news. Though unbeatable in the production of gasoline cars, Europe is years behind in the production of electric vehicles, widely considered the future of the industry.
Firms like Mercedes, Volkswagen, and Stellantis started probing the Chinese market to avoid losing too much ground. They intend to combine Chinese research and development with European production competencies.
But the European Commission is wary of China’s overproduction. Beijing already strapped Brussels with its solar panel industry, with European companies acting too late to stop them. The car industry is one of the EU’s top jewels, and losing it would be a disaster for the European economy.
While it may not be too late, catching back up to China will be a significant challenge. European brands will need a working strategy to counter Chinese quantities.
China similarly tried to outcompete Silicon Valley companies in the smartphone industry, offering a vast quantity of different products at a fraction of the price. Silicon Valley, however, did not lose its competitive advantage and is still the main hub of innovation in the smartphone industry. Could Europe be the same for electric cars?
