Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi on Thursday launched a sporty electric car with Porsche-inspired styling and a lower price than the Tesla Model 3, underscoring the fierce competition among new entrants in China’s already crowded EV market. compete.
The standard SU7 electric model will be priced at 215,900 yuan ($29,872.02, approximately Rs. 24 cr), Xiaomi CEO and founder Lei Jun told packed attendees at the two-hour event. Those include the bosses of Chinese electric car makers Nio and Xpeng Motors. 89,948), while the Pro and Max versions are priced at CNY 245,900 (approx. Rs. 28,35,934) and CNY 299,900 (approx. Rs. 34,58,709) respectively.
“It’s 30,000 yuan cheaper than Model 3,” he said. The starting price of Tesla Model 3 in China is 245,900 yuan.
He also said that many of the SU7’s features surpass those of Tesla and Porsche, comparing it to Porsche’s Taycan and Panamera models. For example, its minimum range of 700 kilometers exceeds the Tesla Model 3’s 567 kilometers, Lei said.
The launch fulfills the ambition of Xiaomi’s founder, who announced that the company will enter electric vehicles in 2021 and pledged to invest $10 billion (approximately Rs. 83,348 crore) in the automotive business as the “last big move” in his life. Venture Project”.
The company has a manufacturing partnership with state-owned automaker BAIC Group and debuted its SU7 (short for Speed Ultra 7) sedan in December.
The company, known for its smartphones and a wide range of affordable appliances, started taking orders for the SU7 at 10pm Beijing time (1400 GMT) and said it had received 50,000 orders in the first 27 minutes.
Deliveries of the Standard and Max models will begin in late April, and deliveries of the Pro model will begin in late May.
Lei Jun also said that the transition from electronics manufacturing to automobile manufacturing is not easy. “In the three years of developing this car, my biggest experience is that it is extremely difficult to build a car. Even giants like Apple have given up.” Lei Jun said. “So today, everyone who still insists on building cars is a hero of our time.”
He added that the SU7 will be available in 211 stores in 39 cities in China by the end of this year. Xiaomi has not revealed whether it has plans to sell the car overseas.
price war
Analysts are divided over whether Xiaomi’s car project will succeed. Some say it’s a natural extension for the company, whose rice cookers, air purifiers and other electronics are ubiquitous in Chinese homes.
But the SU7 marks the company’s departure from its affordable brand image. “Can (Chinese consumers) make the psychological leap from mass-market, cool, cheap consumer goods and household products to high-end electric vehicles?” said Tu Le, founder of consulting firm Sino Auto Insights.
Additionally, the car’s sales come at a difficult time for China’s auto market.
Ernan Cui, an analyst at Longzhou Economic News, said: “The current market environment is quite challenging for new entrants, and the top 10 players continue to expand market share.”
“If Xiaomi cannot achieve large-scale sales in a short period of time, it risks dragging down the company’s profits in the long term.”
What will work in Xiaomi’s favor, however, is the revenue generated from other businesses, said Sino Auto Insights’ Le.
Additionally, analysts said Xiaomi’s expertise in smartphones gives it an advantage over traditional automakers in smart cockpits, a feature favored by Chinese consumers.
SU7 uses the company’s self-developed Hyper OS as its operating system to connect EV users with their other devices, including smartphones.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
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