Xiaomi Electric Cars to Enter the Market in the Second Quarter

Xiaomi plans to enter the electric car market with a wide approach, targeting around 20 million new customers in the highly competitive sector, as stated by the group’s president, Lu Weibing, before unveiling its first electric car at the Global Mobile Phone Conference in Barcelona.

He said, “It’s a great starting point for us in a distinguished sector, with 20 million active users for our smartphones in China.

So, I believe that initial purchase operations will be very intertwined with these users.” He added that the official release will come very soon, and that local delivery operations will start in the second quarter.

“Xiaomi” unveiled its electric car SU7 in China late last December, but has not announced a specific price yet. In this regard, it was noted that the company is considering a range of price points, starting from the basic level and ending with luxury cars.

Xiaomi, based in Beijing, is specialized in the smartphone industry market and ranks third in global shipments behind Apple and Samsung.

Data from the technology analysis company “Canalys” show that the company captured around 13% of the global market and shipped 146.4 million phones in 2023.

In recent years, the giant Chinese manufacturer has expanded its range to include television sets and home consumer products, which can be controlled via smartphone and often feature sleek white design.

However, most of the company’s revenue still comes primarily from smartphones.

Xiaomi is generally known for its affordable products. This has raised doubts about whether it can manufacture and sell an electric car, promoted as a competitor to Porsche, in a market where price wars are raging among industry giants such as “BYD”.

Lu said, “After the first car, the next step for us will be building our own factories and manufacturing the main components within the company’s premises.”

He did not specify a timeline for launching the vehicle overseas, but he indicated that it would take from two to three years.

It is mentioned that the company has pledged to invest 10 billion dollars in electric vehicles over the course of a decade, making it one of the few new players in the electric car market in China.

Authorities are cautious about introducing more players into this market, which already suffers from oversupply.