After Apple’s abortive iCar project, Xiaomi is looking wise for choosing to follow in the footsteps of other Chinese companies and going from smartphones to electric vehicles. The Chinese tech giant is now worth more than GM and Ford, thanks to the hype surrounding its new SUV sedan, the SU7.
Xiaomi’s SU7 is a Tesla Model 3 rival electric sedan. When the stock market opened after the car’s launch, the company’s shares surged, adding $7.6 billion to Xiaomi’s valuation. The Chinese tech giant is now worth $55.2 billion, according to Reuters, compared with Ford’s $52.4 billion and GM’s $53.1 billion. All three, however, still lag far behind Tesla, which has a market cap of $549 billion.
The SU7 may be entering a tough Chinese market, but it has distinctive styling—it looks like a Taycan wearing a McLaren 720S mask—and a competitive price. A base SU7 will cost less than $30,000, although buyers should expect to wait a while before they can get one. Xiaomi revealed last week that it received nearly 90,000 pre-orders in the first 24 hours after they went on sale, and demand is so high that prospective owners could be waiting more than seven months after placing an order to take delivery.
Xiaomi’s aggressive pricing strategy may be impressing potential EV buyers, but those who have attempted to cancel their orders and reclaim their 5000 yuan (around $690) deposit have reportedly struggled to get their money back due to the company inadvertently locking the orders.
Other Chinese automakers have been forced to slash prices to remain competitive, and it has led industry analysts to speculate that Xiaomi will lose around $9400 on each car this year, based on sales of 60,000 units, according to Reuters. Still, the tech giant has deeper pockets than most of its start-up rivals.
Xiaomi has also had to contend with some negative publicity after images and videos of several SU7 crashes began circulating on social media, garnering thousands of views. The incidents have led some commentators to question whether the traction control system is able to cope with the top-of-the-range model’s 663 hp.
Son Pham (forum.autodaily.vn)
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