The strong competitor for Model Y has arrived: Xiaomi's first SUV debuts, officially announcing that YU7 will be launched next summer
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's public information shows that the YU7 is 4999mm long, 1996mm wide, and 1600mm high. It has been jokingly referred to by netizens as "Fa La Mi" due to its resemblance to the Ferrari Purosangue. Xiaomi stated that the new car is expected to officially launch in June or July next year, but did not disclose the pricing
Tesla's Model Y has gained a new competitor. Xiaomi's first SUV has made its debut.
On the evening of December 9th, Beijing time, Xiaomi Auto released images of its first SUV on social media, officially introducing the new member of Xiaomi Auto, the Xiaomi YU7, and stated that this new SUV is expected to be officially launched in June or July next year.
From the images provided by Xiaomi Auto, the front face of the YU7 is highly consistent with the Xiaomi SU7, and the rear also features the family-style circular taillights. Compared to the SU7, the YU7 has a taller body, and a spoiler is installed above the rear window. The exterior design of the YU7 continues many family design elements of the SU7, but the semi-hidden door handles have been changed to fully hidden door handles.
Since the body of the YU7 looks somewhat similar to the Ferrari Purosangue, it has been humorously nicknamed "Faramy" by netizens. The image below shows the Ferrari Purosangue.
On Monday, Xiaomi did not disclose any interior images of the YU7. Previously leaked interior photos show that the new car will feature a floating central control screen and has largely eliminated physical buttons.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the 390th batch of the "Announcement of Road Motor Vehicle Production Enterprises and Products" on Monday, where the detailed parameters of Xiaomi's SUV model were first disclosed.
The public information of the declared model by the Ministry shows that Xiaomi's new product is a new energy vehicle, named pure electric multi-purpose passenger vehicle. This new car measures 4999mm in length, 1996mm in width, 1600mm in height, and has a wheelbase of 3000mm, with a total vehicle mass of 2855 kg. It uses a ternary lithium-ion battery, with a peak power of 220kW/288kW for the drive motor. The single production enterprise is Jiangsu Times New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., and the assembly production enterprise is Zhongzhou Times New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.
Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun stated on Monday that the reason for announcing the YU7 so early is that Xiaomi hopes to remove the heavy camouflage from the YU7 test vehicle as soon as possible, which will help the company conduct more comprehensive and detailed long-term large-scale testing to ensure product quality and create better products.
On Monday, Xiaomi did not disclose the pricing of the YU7. One of the hot topics in the industry regarding the Xiaomi SUV has been its pricing, but there is a significant gap in price speculation, with some guessing the SU7 starting price at 215,900 yuan, while others speculate it will not exceed 250,000 yuan, with the top configuration expected to be over 300,000 yuan Xiaomi has not responded to the speculation about pricing.
During the earnings call following Xiaomi's second-quarter financial report released in August this year, Xiaomi President Lu Weibing stated that the gross margin for Xiaomi's automotive business is approximately 15.4%. Many investors, analysts, and media outlets consider this to be a good level of gross margin. However, Xiaomi's new business still has a loss of 1.8 billion yuan. The losses are mainly due to two reasons: first, the scale of the automotive business is still relatively small. The automotive industry is a typical manufacturing sector that relies on economies of scale; without sufficient scale, it becomes very difficult. Second, Xiaomi has made significant investments in its first vehicle. He mentioned that Lei Jun has repeatedly stated that Xiaomi's first car must have ten times the investment, and it will take some time to digest these investments.
Lu Weibing also mentioned that Xiaomi's first vehicle is a pure electric sedan. Among all vehicle types—pure electric sedans, pure electric SUVs, range-extended or plug-in hybrid SUVs, etc.—the cost of pure electric sedans is the highest. The batteries are still very expensive, and from the perspective of gross margin friendliness, pure electric sedans are also the most challenging. He believes that as the scale continues to expand, production capacity is continuously tapped, and delivery capabilities improve, Xiaomi's losses will further narrow in the future