Chinese Xiaomi challenges Tesla

Xiaomi produces mobile phones, laptops and other electronic devices and is the world’s third largest smartphone seller. Although she has not worked on cars before, the new car is already being compared to the latest Porsche models.

The company expects that its current customers will be interested in the SU7 also because it will be equipped with the same operating system as other Xiaomi electronic products.

As the company’s founder and CEO Lei Jun said during the SU7 presentation, he put his reputation on the line by challenging China’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, BYD, as well as Tesla founder Elon Musk.

The new car in its basic configuration will cost 215,900 yuan (regarding 29 thousand dollars).

According to Lay, his company’s new product can be compared with Tesla’s Model 3, although in some ways it is superior to the American sedan.

“I think we can offer Model 3 users a better product,” he said.

Buyers will be offered a choice of nine exterior colors and special options, such as a sports car sound simulator, karaoke and a built-in refrigerator.

The cars will be produced at the plant of the state-owned BAIC Group in Beijing, which can potentially produce up to 200 thousand cars per year.

In the next 10 years, Xiaomi intends to invest $10 billion in the production of electric vehicles.

China is the largest electric vehicle market in the world.

As AFP writes, citing data from research company Rystad Energy, of all new electric cars sold worldwide in December last year, 69% were in China. This year, analysts predict that of the 17.5 million cars sold, China will account for 11.5 million, or 65%.

China has been aggressively promoting cars in European and Southeast Asian markets, last year overtaking Japan to become the world’s largest auto exporter, and Elon Musk recently called Chinese automakers “the most competitive auto companies in the world.”

“Frankly, I think if trade barriers aren’t put in place, they’re going to pretty much wipe out most other auto companies,” he said in January.

There are already 129 registered electric vehicle manufacturers in China, but only 20 of them have managed to gain a share of one percent or more of the local car market, according to Bloomberg data.

The leader in the production of electric vehicles (and Tesla’s main competitor) is the Chinese BYD, which owns almost 33% of the market.

BYD started out as a battery manufacturer, and its batteries are still used by many of the world’s giants, including Tesla and BMW.