Xiaomi, a prominent Chinese technology company, announced on Tuesday that it successfully delivered over 20,000 SU7 EVs in October as part of its growing electric car initiative in the fiercely competitive market.
The company aims to deliver a total of 100,000 SU7 vehicles by the end of November. Xiaomi’s foray into car manufacturing began in 2021, with the establishment of a dedicated manufacturing plant in the same year.
The SU7, Xiaomi’s first car model, was launched in late March at a price approximately $4,000 lower than Tesla’s most affordable car, the Model 3, in China at that time. Following Xiaomi’s market entry, Tesla responded by slashing the Model 3’s price by around $2,000. As of October, Xiaomi has already delivered more than 75,000 SU7 vehicles.
Comparatively, Chinese competitors Xpeng and Nio took around six years to reach the milestone of producing 100,000 electric cars, whereas Tesla achieved the same in 12 years.
Xpeng set a monthly record by delivering over 20,000 cars in September, with a significant portion attributed to its newly introduced budget-friendly brand Mona. Conversely, Nio has faced challenges in maintaining monthly deliveries above 20,000 units.
Another player in the Chinese electric car market is Zeekr, an electric vehicle brand established by automaker Geely, which reported producing over 100,000 vehicles within 1.5 years. In September, Zeekr achieved a record by delivering 21,333 cars.
Brian Tycangco, an analyst from Stansberry Research, views Xiaomi’s accomplishment of 20,000 deliveries in October as a significant indication of influence within the largest EV market globally. He highlights that Xiaomi’s electric car gross profit margins in August have been on par with Xpeng’s and likely even improved following increased production levels.
Xiaomi recently opened preorders for its high-end sports variant, SU7 Ultra, priced at 814,900 yuan ($114,304), ahead of its launch in March 2025. The company reported a surge in demand, receiving over 3,600 preorders within just 10 minutes, each necessitating a 10,000 yuan deposit.
Citi analysts believe that Xiaomi’s achievements and product lineup adjustments will bolster its car deliveries, now projecting 250,000 units to be delivered next year, up from the previous forecast of 238,000.
Moreover, they raised the price target on Xiaomi shares to 30.60 HK dollars ($3.94) from 22.70 HK dollars, in conjunction with revised smartphone shipment forecasts following the launch of Xiaomi’s flagship Mi 15 device, the first phone to incorporate Qualcomm’s latest chipset.
