China's Xiaomi receives over 100,000 orders, begins deliveries of its first EV
Xiaomi on Thursday said it has received more than 100,000 orders for its first electric vehicle, the SU7, as it began deliveries.
The first deliveries come from the first batch of 5,000 cars that the company has already produced.
Xiaomi's SU7 — short for Speed Ultra 7 — enters a crowded China EV market with an attention-grabbing price tag — under $30,000 for the base model, cheaper than Tesla's Model 3 in China.
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While the world's largest auto market is challenging for newcomers due to a cut-throat EV price war underway and slowing demand, analysts have said Xiaomi has deeper pockets than most EV startups and its smartphone expertise gives it an edge in smart dashboards — a feature prized by Chinese consumers.
Xiaomi has advised potential buyers of its sedan that they could face wait times of four to seven months, a sign of strong interest. It said on Friday that it had received 88,898 pre-orders for the car in the first 24 hours of sales.
The company has already produced 5,000 SU7 vehicles it dubbed the «founders edition» that it says come with additional accessories for early buyers. On Tuesday, Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun said on his social media account deliveries from that batch would start across 28 Chinese cities on Wednesday and would include a ceremony at its Beijing factory.
Xiaomi has said it expects to lose money on the SU7, and some analysts predict the loss would be substantial.
«We maintain our
