The Chinese EV maker threatening Ford and GM

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Four years ago, Xiaomi was a successful smartphone business and its car business consisted of nothing more than a plan approved by the board and a vow by billionaire founder Lei Jun to make it work. This year, the company’s assembly lines are set to turn out 300,000 vehicles, and it has already shipped more than 135,000 in less than a year on the market.

The wait list for its first car, the SU7, a Porsche look-alike that starts at around $30,000, is around half a year, and Xiaomi’s Hong Kong-listed shares have more than tripled in a year. Lei has done what Tesla, Apple, Ford Motor and General Motors have been unable to do: create a hit, inexpensive electric vehicle—and fast. Tesla took more than a decade from its founding to reach the 300,000-vehicle production level.

Fifteen-year-old EV truck maker Rivian made one-sixth that number last year. Lei, a 55-year-old serial entrepreneur, is a household name in China with tens of millions of followers on social media and a Steve Jobs-like flair for hourslong presentations where he touts his products. His latest was on Thursday, where he showed off a new $73,000 version of his car that zips from zero to 60 mph in less than two seconds.

He has never lived outside China but from a young age harbored admiration for U.S. tech titans. He has said he was inspired by a 1999 book, “Fire in the Valley," that described Jobs and other Silicon Valley personal-computer pioneers.

He has been called “Lei Jobs" for his casual outfit with jeans resembling the Apple co-founder’s. In addition to marathon livestreams, he has posted more than 20 TikTok-style short videos this year—sometimes pitching products, sometimes just chatting. Lei has carved out his place