SU7: Xiaomi secures over 75,000 orders for its first-gen car

In April 2023, the most expensive product Xiaomi had to sell might have been a top-end 16GB RAM version of its 13 Ultra Android flagship. Fast forward to 2024, however, and all of a sudden it's a whole car, made in a dedicated ~720,000m² plant backed to manufacture a new SU7 in just 76 seconds thanks to its ~700 completely autonomous robots.

Then again, at a starting price equivalent to just under $30,000, it seems consumers in Xiaomi's native China are queueing up to buy a car with the same badge as their smartphone. In fact, they are signing up to pay non-refundable deposits to do so in their droves, enabling Xiaomi to amass 75,723 of them as of April 24, 2024, according to Lei Jun, at least.

Xiaomi's CEO unveiled this stat at Auto China 2024, as well as the projection that the company will be able to deliver 10,000 more SU7s by the end of June.

Despite all this progress, however, Lei Jun projects that the car and its immediate successors will not be able to challenge Tesla anywhere else but China for at least 3 years.

Nevertheless, their maker is also intent on expanding their EV operation, hinting that, despite its new legion of car-making robots, it could also do with augmenting its ~6,000-strong human workforce in order to keep Xiaomi Automotive and all of its ambitions going.