Chinese manufacturer of Electric Vehicles and Smartphones Xiaomi preceded this Thursday its new YU7 Electric SUV from 253,500 Iuanes ($ 35,364), almost 4% below Tesla’s Model Y, intensifying the challenge to the US company in the world’s largest automotive market.
YU7’s basic model costs 10,000 yuane less than Tesla’s Model Y’s starting price in China, with the Yu7 Pro and Yu7 Max top range models costing 279,900 and 329,900 iUanes, respectively.
Xiaomi began to receive orders for all three models on Thursday night, reaching 200,000 orders in 3 minutes after the start of sale at 10 pm (1400 GMT).
Tesla’s Model Y, which was China’s best -selling SUV in May, starts at 263,500 Iuanes in China.
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Xiaomi said it will partner with BYD, GAC Toyota and Zhengzhou Nissan to build an ecosystem that connects humans, houses and cars.
The executive president and founder of Xiaomi, Law Jun, said he wants Yu7 to comply with model Y and analysts say he has the potential to be successful.
“YU7 will serve as an initial test to find out if Xiaomi can expand its appeal beyond the early users and technology enthusiasts to become a serious participant in the mass market segment,” said Rosalie Chen, senior analyst at Third Bridge.
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YU7 has a range of up to 835 kilometers per load compared to the autonomy of up to 719 kilometers from Model Y, which had its updated version released in January.
YU7 has been Xiaomi’s second car since the Beijing -based company entered the automobile sector last year with its Su7 sports sedan, which was inspired by the Porsche style and was priced below Tesla’s model 3. Since December, SU7 has surpassed Tesla’s Model 3 in China on a monthly base.
In March, Xiaomi increased its target of electric vehicle delivery this year to 350,000, compared to the previous objective of 300,000 units.
