BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Xiaomi on Thursday cut the price of its first sticker on its luxury electric sedan SU7 Ultra to more than 529,900 yuan ($72,931.72) from a third, fitting a major challenge for others in the world’s large automation markets.
The Chinese electronics manufacturer began taking pre-orders for the car at a sticker price of 814,900 yuan at the end of October, but Lei Jun said it had cut its price by 35% with the official launch of the car in Beijing on Thursday.
Ray said drivers of BMW 5 Series, Audi A6 and Mercedes-Benz E-Class cars are interested in the SU7 Ultra, but thought it was a bit too expensive as the car sells for 500,000 yuan and 600,000 yuan.
“Our mission is that the people we like can afford more of a luxury car. Then, after three to four months of discussion, we decided on the price of 529,900 yuan.”
After the event, Xiaomi said she received an order of 6,900 for the car within 10 minutes.
Xiaomi entered the crowded EV market in China last year. This was launched with the release of a Porsche-like HIT SU7 starting at under $30,000. The SU7 outperformed Tesla’s Model 3 in the fourth quarter last year. This was expanded in 2025.
The SU7 Ultra initially said it surpassed the Porsche Tei Can Turbo in acceleration and top speed specifications in October at a price comparable to the Tesla Model S Plaid, which sells in China for 814,900 yuan ($114,200) .
The SU7 Ultra has more premium exterior and interior materials, seats and audio speakers compared to other cheaper SU7 models. The limited edition of the SU7 Ultra Luxury EV, which has not been disclosed, is available for sale for 814,900 yuan.
Buyers ordering the SU7 Ultra by the end of March are entitled to perks that include an end-to-end intelligent driving system of 26,000 yuan for lifetime free access to Xiaomi, Ray said.
Ray also points out the US automaker’s update to Chinese autopilot software, targeting Tesla. This “has become a virus in the last two days, but we’ll have to pay 60,000 yuan,” he said.
Tesla’s update disappointed Tesla owners who complained on social media that they had not reached Elon Musk’s promise to bring a full autopilot and FSD system to China.
($1 = 7.2657 Chinese Yuan Renminbi)
(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Che Pan, Brenda Gohediting David Goodman and Susan Fenton)
