The other day Xiaomi has started selling its first electric car SU7 at a price of just over $30 thousand. The Chinese company planned to start delivering the electric car by the end of April. However, interested buyers will have to wait much longer – up to 7 months. This is due to the huge demand for the new product.
Within the first 24 hours after the launch of sales, the number of pre-orders for the Xiaomi SU7 electric car reached 88,898. In this regard, the company has informed potential buyers that the waiting time for its sedan can be from 4 to 7 months. The information was published in the Xiaomi car app.
While the delays may be a promising sign of high demand for the SU7, Xiaomi has entered the EV market at an unreliable time. The electric vehicle market in general is stagnant, and the company faces fierce competition in China. Leading electric vehicle companies, including Tesla and BYD, are cutting prices to gain consumer attention.
Xiaomi has to resort to dumping to encourage consumers to buy its electric car. The standard version of the Xiaomi SU7 costs 215,900 yuan, which is about $30 thousand. This is about 30,000 yuan (about $4 thousand) less than the Tesla Model 3 in China. The SU7 Pro version costs 245,900 yuan, or about $34 thousand, and the Max version costs 299,900 yuan, or about $41.5 thousand.
Analysts believe that Xiaomi can benefit from its experience with smartphones, as it can help the company develop smart dashboards. At the same time, it has larger cash reserves than smaller electric vehicle startups.
Source: businessinsider