The new Xiaomi YU7 has taken the electric luxury SUV segment in China by storm. Days after launch, Xiaomi claimed it had 289.000 orders. The YU7 looks fantastic, it packs loads of power and tech, and prices start at only $39K. The question I get a lot from people less familiar with the Chinese market but aware of the hype is: What is Xiaomi, and where does it come from?
Xiaomi (小米) – which is pronounced like so – is a consumer electronics and smartphone company founded in 2010 and based in Beijing. The founder and CEO is Lei Jun (雷军), born in 1969 in Wuhan. The success of the car business propelled Lei to the 32nd spot on Forbes’ World Billionaires List, with a net worth of $45.1B.
Xiaomi is the third-largest smartphone maker in the world. It also makes everything from hairdryers to laptops, air conditioning systems, water purifiers, sound systems, robo vacuum cleaners, televisions, and much more. The company is also involved in AI, chip development, and robotics. Xiaomi’s stores in China are fantastic, full of tech, noise, and trendy folks. You can pick up a car and a washing machine at the same time.
Xiaomi Auto
In 2021, Xiaomi founded a new subsidiary called Xiaomi Auto (小米汽车) to get into China’s EV boom. The company went to work, and fast. Within 3 years, it had an R&D center, a design studio, a distribution network, and a factory in the southeast of Beijing.
Construction of the first phase of the factory began in 2021, and it was ready in 2023, with an initial annual capacity of 150K cars. Construction of phase 2 started immediately and will be completed later this year, doubling capacity to 300K. Xiaomi recently purchased land for phase 3, with construction set to start next year. Xiaomi calls it the Hyper Factory.
Launch of the SU7 sedan
The SU7 was Xiaomi’s first car, and the highest-anticipated new car ever in China. Months before launch, social media and automotive news were loaded with SU7 stories, discussing everything from power to colors. When it finally launched in early 2024, Xiaomi received hundreds of thousands of orders.
I have been following the Chinese automotive industry since 2001, and I have never seen a brand rise as fast as Xiaomi. Out of nowhere, and with only one model, Xiaomi reached the 40th place (of 107) in China’s brand ranking in April 2024, after just one month of sales. Growth continued like crazy, peaking at the 19th spot in February 2025. Sales have since gone down a bit, to the 22nd spot in May, with 28,013 units sold. What made Xiaomi such a sudden success?
Part of this has to do with its image. Xiaomi is a popular brand in China. It is seen as trendy, young, and cool. That gives Xiaomi a huge advantage over other new EV makers: massive positive brand recognition right from the start. Xiaomi made another smart connection: matching colors and names. Like a Lava Orange car with a smartphone in the same color, or an SU7 Pro matching a Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro.
More Bang For Your Bucks, Or Revs For Your Renminbis
All cars in China are cheap. But Xiaomi offers an almost unbelievable bang for the buck. Initially, its top-spec car was the SU7 Max with 673 hp for $42K. Then, Xiaomi launched the SU7 Ultra, a tri-motor record-breaking monster with 1,548 hp for only $78K.
Chinese consumers like to be connected with everything, all the time. Xiaomi has the brilliantly-named HyperOS operating system. It runs on Xiaomi’s phones, computers, smart-home systems, household appliances, and the car’s infotainment system. All are seamlessly connected via Xiaomi’s ecosystem. When a user gets into a car, the Xiaomi smartphone immediately connects with the infotainment – they are the same, no need to press any button. If the user downloads an app on the infotainment, it will pop up on the user’s phone, and the other way around.
Finally, Xiaomi offers an endless number of official factory accessories. Chinese consumers love electronic trinkets. Most other brands, like Tesla, don’t bother with this kind of stuff, leaving the market to third-party suppliers. But Xiaomi is a consumer electronics business, so it can make everything in-house. The extras include physical buttons, extra dials, an air freshener, walkie-talkies, and a karaoke set with wireless microphones.
This isn’t to say the company is a completely unmitigated success. Xiaomi had trouble scaling up production capacity, and delivery times went up to over a year. Then came a notable large number of crashes with the SU7, widely shared on social media, which led to rising insurance prices, which led to protests by Xiaomi owners. Next, Xiaomi got involved in an embarrassing scandal; a hood accessory billed as an air vent to improve downforce proved to be just a piece of plastic with two holes in it.
That Was Just The Appetizer, The Xiaomi YU7 Is The Main Dish
The YU7 is Xiaomi’s second car. Xiaomi launched it on June 26 at a high-profile event that lasted almost 3 hours. The YU7 is a sporty 5-seat SUV with a long hood, wide fenders, and 19-inch wheels. The wild design is a mix of original Xiaomi, Ferrari Purosangue, and Aston Martin DB7.
It has a black roof, frameless doors, flush door handles, black wheel arches, two rear spoilers, and sporty five-spoke alloy wheels with yellow Brembo brake calipers.
The rear with a sleek light bar and a diffuser.
The SU7 has the largest clamshell hood in the world, spanning 33.5 square feet (77×62.5 inches).
The drag coefficient is 0.245 Cd, helped by various vents and spoilers. The most interesting one channels air from inlets above the front lights to vents in the hood.
There’s even more interesting stuff on the inside.
The interior is clean, sporty, and luxurious, with Nappa leather seats. It has a large-diameter 3-spoke steering wheel, a 16.1-inch touch screen, and a 43-inch wide ‘Xiaomi HyperVision’ panoramic display. The operating system is HyperOS, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen3 chipset. The system also supports Apple CarPlay and Baidu CarLife.
In the center tunnel are two heated & cooled cup holders and two 80-watt wireless chargers. That’s a record. Most in-car wireless chargers have 30 to 50W. The YU7 is furthermore equipped with a 25-speaker Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 sound system and a 6.6 kW V2L connection to power external appliances or emergency-charge another EV.
The interior is flexible. Both the front and rear seats recline at 135°, and each seat has a leg rest. However, when the front seats are reclined to the max, no one can sit on the rear seats.
Storage is also something that Xioami is very good at.
Chinese brands compete to see who can cram the most storage space in a car. The YU7 does well on this front, with a 0.48 cubic foot glove box, a 0.16 ft³ refrigerator, and a 0.18 ft³ drawer under the rear bench. The trunk measures 24/62 ft³, and it has a 5 ft³ frunk. Think that’s a big frunk? Wait for my next article…
Ok, Let’s Talk About The Tissue Box
Xiaomi announced a fresh extra for the YU7: a $23 factory-official tissue box, which fits neatly behind the touch screen. Tissue boxes in cars are a big thing in China. Every car has one or more, as consumers care a lot about hygiene. Many after-market companies make tissue box accessories, like box-holders and frames. However, factory-supplied tissue accessories are rare. Leapmotor was first, with a built-in tissue box in the rear compartment.
The Specs Are Also More Than Competitive
The YU7 is based on Xiaomi’s Modena EV platform with an 800V architecture. Xiaomi has launched three variants:
YU7: RWD. Power: 315 hp/389 ft-lbs. The top speed is 149 mph, and 0-62 takes 5.88 seconds. The BYD FinDreams Blade LFP battery has a capacity of 96.3 kWh. The consumption is 13.3 kWh/62 miles, and the range is 519 miles. Charging: 10-80% in 21 minutes.
YU7 Pro: dual-motor AWD. The power goes up considerably to 490 hp and 509 ft-lbs. This brings the 0-62 to 4.27 seconds, but the top speed is 149 mph again. The battery is the same, now with a consumption of 14.4 kWh/62 miles and a 478-mile range. Charging: 10-80% in 21 minutes.
YU7 Max: dual-motor AWD. More power! That’s 681 hp and 638 ft-lbs, for a top speed of 147 mph and a 0-62 in 3.23 seconds. The battery is a 101.7 kWh CATL Qilin NMC. Consumption is 14.8 kW/62 miles, and the range is 472 miles. Charging: 10-80% in only 12 minutes.
Xiaomi has developed the ‘Xiaomi HyperEngine’ electric motors in-house. The motor names are great: V8s, V6s Plus, V6s, and V6. The YU7 has one (RWD) or two (AWD) V6s units.
The YU7 and the YU7 Pro have BYD FinDreams Blade LFP batteries. This is a subsidiary of BYD, selling motors and batteries to other car makers.
The ADAS pissing contest continues. Xiaomi’s L2+ system has 25 sensors: 11 cameras, 12 ultrasonic radars, one 4D millimeter wave radar and one lidar. The YU7 has Highway & Urban NOA (Navigate on Autopilot).
The 4D radar is an industry-first. Xiaomi says it improves visibility in bad weather. The computing power comes from a 700 TOPS NVIDIA Drive AGX Thor chipset.
It’s Not Expensive, But You’ll Have To Wait
Chinese consumers can order a YU7 at a Xiaomi dealer, an experience store, or online. The base model costs $35K, the Pro sells for $39K, and the Max for $48K. In China, the YU7 competes with cars like the Avatr 11, the IM LS7, the Luxeed R7, and the Tesla Model Y.
Xiaomi offers four interior color combinations and nine exterior colors: Cambrian Gray, Dawn Pink, Dusk Purple, Emerald Green, Lava Orange, Ocean Blue, Pearl White, Shadow Teal, and Titanium. Popularity has a price: when you order one right now, you will get it in 45 to 62 weeks. Next year, Xiaomi will launch its third model, the YU8, a 3-row SUV with an extended-range powertrain, which will undoubtedly shake up the growing EREV luxury SUV segment in China.
So, there you go. All the basics you need to know about the car and the brand.
What I don’t understand is how Chinese Manufacturers can build a car from scratch so quickly and legacy japanese manufacturers seem to really struggle with this. Are they cutting serious corners here or how do they do it?
Serious question, is the reason Chinese cars are not sold in the US is tariffs?
I think there might be a little bit of fear from American car companies mixed in with the tariffs, along with this country’s general ambivalence/paranoia towards allowing Chinese tech to become too prevalent.
That and the CCP has it’s filthy hands in EVERY Chinese company, period. If anyone thinks the CCP is not evil and degenerate, please hit yourself on the head with a tack hammer, because you are an idiot.
You mean like Trump and his minions? I’m not a big China fan, but they are leapfrogging us in tech and the future. We, are also g back to the 19th century socially and investing in tax giveaways for oil and gas. It will take us decades to catch up and that is assuming we rid ourselves of the de-evolutionists. I’m not hopeful
Yep. There’s some pretty strong evidence out there that there was (and likely continues to be) harvesting of organs for transplants from prisoners (including political or religious prisoners) at a very large scale, at least since 2006. There’s no wait for organs and you can schedule a transplant there ahead of time. It’s truly evil. If I’m not saying that clearly enough, they appear to kill prisoners to harvest their organs and often those prisoners are there because they practice a religion that the government doesn’t like, or they spoke out against the government. They say they stopped this in 2015, but many indications seem to point to it continuing, including one religious prisoner that escaped the hospital after having 2/3 of his liver and part of his lungs removed.
*snort* “a little bit of fear…”
They’re terrified.
But there’s also no sales or support operations, which would be essential, and the cars probably haven’t been federalized. There’s probably changes needed to meet FMVSS/SAE/NCAP
The tariffs aren’t helping anything, but even before Trump, the Chinese automakers haven’t really made a significant push to sell cars here, largely because they know it’d be futile. The Big 3 would bribe every politician in sight to keep them out, and it would be a massive uphill battle. I think they’re just focusing on selling cars in regions that are less hostile to them.
Prior to this year we already had a 100% tariff on Chinese cars. Main reason given was that the Chinese government provided a lot of subsidies and support to their car industry as they were getting started so they were able to sell them at below what their manufacturing cost was and not need to worry about pesky things like making a profit. Depending on how accurate that is, you literally can not compete with that and stay a viable company.
As someone who has worked in manufacturing their whole life, the speed that they have constructed factory from scratch, having no experience in car manufacturing (though vast experience in electronics manufacturing) is astounding.
I’ve said it to many people around the world, continuous investment and innovation is why China is winning the war on global manufacturing. Even though they have low labour costs, they are still always investing and working on automation for manufacturing.
Whereas in Australia or the US, people seem content to bleed every drop of blood out facilities and then vaguely update it or close due to the cost of the single stage large upgrade that is needed to be competitive.
I believe Xiaomi factories are designed and managed by BAIC, who have plenty of experience in car manufacturing. @Tycho?
I’m not a fan of the fully integrated OS stuff. But, I am a fan of the fully integrated OS stuff.
It’s funny, my immediate reaction is “this is bad, I don’t like”, then I remember I am buried in the google ecosystem pretty deep.
All of our data is being snatched, and they always know where we are at this point. It’s pointless to fight or argue anymore. I love old cars, but I love this new world we life in, perhaps, even more.
I suppose I will hold this point-of-view until they start using these features against us, which they basically already are, but it’s currently fairly painless.
That OEM-mount tissue box is an immediate sell for me. The only reason I buy the more expensive small half-size tissue boxes are because they fit in my Volvo’s center console armrest.
That looks REALLY good, especially in the orange and green colors. For your next-next article can you describe what ownership and maintenance are like in China in general and how they’ve evolved over the last 10 or 20 years? Do people expect a car to last 50K miles, 100K, 250K, 500K? Do dealership service centers exist and are they out to scam you out of $1500 just to replace 2 brake pads? Because the cars are so tech heavy do they go out of style and obsolete in a couple years like a smartphone would?…
I have to admit, the tailights are wonderfully designed.
Me: Can we get a Taycan Cross Turismo?
Mom: we have a Taycan Cross Turismo at home
The Taycan Cross Turismo at home:
They have a much better version of that with the Nio ET5 Touring which is actually a wagon. Somehow China has way more EV wagons than the West does (at least 5 or 6, with more on the way). I’m miffed that Volvo won’t just rebody one to sell here, especially considering Geely’s Zeekr already makes one.
I wish Nio would sell the ET5 Touring here in Australia.
I watch a lot of European YT car review videos. Many are going gaga over Nio EVs over there.
No wonder Tesla is taking a beating in China. They come out with a mild refresh on the Model Y, and then Xiaomi comes out with this. Complete with seamless integration with their phones and other devices, and a whole host of accessories ranging from practical to amusing. It looks great inside and out too. That interior looks far more welcoming (and colorful) than the spartan Tesla, even though they’re both pretty minimal interiors.
The hatchback’s shape is pretty similar to my eyes to a car-like Aston Martin DBX – and far less blobby than the Tesla Model Y/X
All this sounds very nice and I like the fact that they have some interesting colour options.
But if this ever makes it to North America, I look forward to seeing how well these hold up after a few winters in the rust belt.
THAT is an acid test that gives a better indication of the quality standards it was built to.
Regarding the driving range, I look forward to see what kind of range it gets under the more conservative US EPA test.
Also in my view, the really high powered versions have a downside… insurance rates that are likely to be higher.
Insurance rates are the reason why I bought a Ford C-Max over Tesla Model S last year (and this was earlier in the year before Elon Musk got seriously into Republican Politics which changed my mind about him and Tesla).
Insurance was quoted at $4000-$4500/year for a 2014 Tesla Model S while a 2017 C-Max Energi was quoted a bit under $1500/year.
While the C-Max is less efficient, the insurance cost difference would mean I’d still be ahead financially at least $1500/year with the C-Max.
I’d rather give that money to my daughter to help her with her tuition than give it to the insurance industry.
So if/when the Xiaomi comes to Canada, I’m gonna hold off for at least a couple of years to see how they hold up in the climate we have here as well as how the insurance rates shake out and the cost/availability of parts/service.
I mean, they do have seasons in China.
I assume those 450+ mile ranges are measured starting at the top of a mountain?
Especially since these numbers don’t add up
96.3/13.3 * 62 = 448 miles, not 519.
519 miles on CLTC is 364 miles EPA which is still pretty decent even if nowhere near the claimed. Even at 450 CLTC it’s 319 EPA, about inline with Tesla these days.
Until this past year, Xiaomi was nothing more than the brand that knowledgeable US consumers would choose if they wanted something close to an Apple watch at half price.
It’s too bad about that whole “free trade” thing being proven wrong in recent months. For centuries I thought it was going to pan out, but I guess not! 🙂
Seriously, though, imagine if we went back to 2003 and we’re all trying to text on our Nokia 3390 phones and some dude walks in with an iPhone. And then the government says “Nope, that’s TOO much connectivity, the iPhone has to go!” but it only applied to our country and almost nobody else. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this must be some small piece of how North Koreans must feel when they get exposure to the broader world.
And now they’re even sponsoring part of the Nurburgring.