Xiaomi releases electric car $4K cheaper than Tesla’s Model 3 as price wars heat up
Chinese consumer electronics company Xiaomi revealed Thurs., Dec. 28, 2023, its long-awaited electric car, but declined to share its price or specific release date.
CNBC | Evelyn Cheng
BEIJING — Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi said Thursday it will sell its first car for far less than Tesla’s Model 3, as price wars heat up in China’s fiercely competitive electric car market.
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun said the standard version of the SU7 will sell for 215,900 yuan ($30,408) in the country — a price he acknowledged would mean the company was selling each car at a loss.
Tesla’s Model 3 starts at 245,900 yuan in China.
Lei claimed the standard version of the SU7 beat the Model 3 on more than 90% of its specifications, except on two aspects that he said it might take Xiaomi at least three to five years to catch up with Tesla on. He also said the SU7 had a minimum driving range of 700 kilometers (nearly 435 miles) versus the Model 3’s 606 kilometers. The company said orders had exceeded 50,000 cars in the 27 minutes since sales started at 10 p.m. Beijing time Thursday.
Deliveries are set to start by the end of April, Lei said. Lei also claimed that Xiaomi’s car factory, for which all “key” steps are fully automated, can produce an SU7 every 76 seconds. It was not immediately clear whether the factory was fully operational.
Earlier this week, the Xiaomi CEO said on social media the SU7 would be the best sedan “under 500,000 yuan” ($69,328).
The car is entering a fiercely competitive market in China, where companies are launching a slew of new models and cutting prices in order to survive. Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei has partnered with traditional automakers, most notably launching the Aito brand whose vehicles are often on display in Huawei smartphone showrooms.
Tesla‘s Model 3 is the best-selling new energy sedan in China that has a driving range of at least 600 kilometers (372 miles) and costs less than 500,000 yuan, according to data from industry website Autohome.
BYD‘s Han sedan starts at 169,800 yuan, according to Autohome.
Nio‘s ET5 starts at 298,000 yuan, while Xpeng‘s P7 starts at 209,900 yuan, the data showed. Geely-owned Zeekr’s 007 sedan starts at 209,900 yuan, according to Autohome.
Sales of new energy vehicles, which include battery-only powered cars, have surged in China to account for about one-third of new passenger cars sold, according to the China Passenger Car Association.
Accessories
The heads of competing electric car startups Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto were among the featured guests at the Xiaomi SU7 launch event.
Lei on Thursday showed off a range of accessories such as an in-car refrigerator, a custom front-window shade, and a smartphone holder, some available for free with a car purchase before the end of April, and others for a separate price.
The SU7 supports Apple’s Car Play and can integrate with the iPad, Lei said. He also revealed driver-assist tech for highways and cities, set to be fully available in China in August.
Tesla’s Autopilot for driver assist on highways is available in China, but the company’s “Full Self Driving” for city streets has yet to be released in the country.
Despite saying Xiaomi wanted to compete with Porsche at a car tech event in December, Lei acknowledged that the SU7 had longer to go before it might be able to compete at this more premium level. He announced that the “Max” version of the SU7, aimed as a competitor with Porsche’s Taycan, would sell for 299,900 yuan.
Ecosystem of devices
The SU7 is part of Xiaomi’s recently launched “Human x Car x Home” strategy that seeks to build an ecosystem of devices connected to its new HyperOS operating system. Most of the company’s revenue is from phones, with just under 30% coming from appliances and other consumer products.
Although Xiaomi is generally known for more affordable products, its President Lu Weibing told CNBC earlier this year the company has been pursuing a premiumization strategy since 2020 — and that there are about 20 million users in that price segment who might buy the SU7.
Lu told CNBC that the SU7 will first be sold to consumers in China, and that it would take at least two to three years for any overseas launch.
The company showed off the car at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in late February, following a reveal of the vehicle’s exterior and tech in Beijing in late December.
The logo of multinational tech company Foxconn (also known as Hon Hai), which is a major manufacturer for Apple products, in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 16, 2025.
Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images
Foxconn, a key Nvidia partner in its artificial intelligence buildout, saw its revenue spike 26% year-on-year in November, as demand for servers continued to ramp up amid the AI boom.
The Taiwanese company, also known as Hon Hai, is the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and makes the servers that hold chips in data centers, as well as assembling Apple’s iPhone.
Foxconn on Friday reported “strong growth” year-on-year for its cloud and networking products, pointing to “momentum for AI server racks,” in its monthly revenue report. It reported revenue of NT$844.3 billion ($27 billion) for November.
A longstanding partner to many of the world’s largest tech companies including Nvidia and Apple, Foxconn has become a key player in the rollout of AI infrastructure in recent times.
It was announced in May that the company would provide infrastructure to a major AI factory in Taiwan, in collaboration with Nvidia and the Taiwanese government. Two months later Foxconn announced it was taking a stake in data center construction company TECO Electric & Machinery Co.
OpenAI said last month that it would collaborate with the Taiwanese company on design work and U.S. manufacturing readiness for next generation AI infrastructure hardware.
Foxconn’s month-on-month revenue was down around 6%, with the company pointing to its smart consumer electronics segment slightly declining.
“AI server rack shipments continue to ramp up, and ICT products are in peak season in the second half of the year,” the monthly report said in its business outlook for the fourth quarter.
The company said in November that growth in its AI server business had seen its third-quarter profits jump 17% year-on-year.
Foxconn’s share price has jumped 26% since the start of 2025, following a 76% uptick over the previous 12 months.
Yi He, co-founder of Binance, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on May 10, 2023.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Binance Holdings, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, named a new co-CEO Wednesday in a major shake-up of its leadership structure.
Yi He, who co-founded Binance with former head Changpeng Zhao in 2017 and has children with the crypto mogul, will now split duties with acting CEO Richard Teng, who announced the news this week.
The move represents the firm’s most significant leadership change since Teng succeeded Zhao, who pleaded guilty to violating U.S. money-laundering laws in 2023.
Teng, who was appointed amid intense regulatory scrutiny of Binance and crypto more broadly, notably had a background in financial regulation and services, formerly holding a senior regulatory role at Singapore’s central bank.
“[Yi He] has been there from the start, and she has been driving a lot of changes and driving the growth of Binance,” Teng told CNBC’s Dan Murphy on Wednesday shortly after the announcement.
Yi He’s elevation to the co-CEO position represents the appointment of an insider with longstanding ties to Zhao, also known as CZ.
The move comes after U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned CZ, who had previously pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering while heading the cryptocurrency exchange.
The Trump administration has taken a friendlier stance toward the crypto industry, with several high-profile cases dropped in recent months.
Queen behind the scenes
Yi He has maintained a relatively low public profile compared to CZ, with many details regarding her roles and activities at Binance unclear.
Her social profiles list her most recent position as Chief Customer Service Officer at the crypto exchange.
One of the last major public statements from the businesswoman was in defense of CZ during his 2024 trial, among 161 letters requesting leniency from the court.
In her letter written in Chinese, Yi He identified herself as CZ’s business partner and “the mother of his three children.”
She claimed that she met CZ at a public blockchain event in 2014, three years before Binance was founded. She was then working at cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin and recruited CZ to join her.
“As CZ’s life partner, I’ve known him for nearly ten years, so I understand a side of him that’s often overlooked,” she wrote in the 2024 letter defending him.
Binance said in a statement Wednesday that Yi He has “played a fundamental role in shaping Binance’s vision and culture, guiding a strategy focused on users’ needs and innovation.”
The company also included a public statement from Yi He, in which she emphasized her and Teng’s “complementary perspectives and shared vision.”
“Together, we bring diverse perspectives and are confident in leading the future of the industry during this pivotal time, as we responsibly expand our global presence and drive sustainable innovation with our users always at the center,” she said.
Federal probes into Binance have also referenced her role in the company. In 2020, U.S. prosecutors reportedly sought records of communications involving Yi He and other executives related to anti-money laundering compliance and the creation of Binance’s U.S. entity.
Media reports have previously painted Yi He as a “Crypto Queen” wielding massive sway behind the scenes at Binance.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal in 2023, Yi He was a former Chinese talk-show host before joining OKCoin, and she entered a relationship with CZ while working together in Shanghai.
The report added that He would assume sweeping control over the crypto giant’s marketing and investment divisions.
Binance and Yi He did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
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