From Safety Crisis to Nürburgring Record: Xiaomi's Rise in Auto Industry
Bastillepost · 1 SOURCES1 day ago6 MIN
Summary
Xiaomi founder Lei Jun (雷軍) has turned the company from a smartphone manufacturer into a major automotive player, overcoming a deadly crash in March 2025 to achieve consecutive Nürburgring records. The SU7 Ultra set a production EV benchmark of 7:04.957 in June 2025, while the YU7 GT SUV broke the production SUV record at 7:22.755 in April 2026. In 2025, Xiaomi's automotive division exceeded 100 billion RMB in revenue, accounting for over one-fifth of total revenue with a 24.3 percent gross margin .
Key Points
- On March 29, 2025, a SU7 in smart driving mode crashed into a concrete barrier on the Dezhou-Gaoshan Expressway in Anhui Province, killing three female university students; Lei Jun responded on April 1, 2025, stating Xiaomi would not evade responsibility .
- Xiaomi's SU7 Ultra achieved a Nürburgring record of 7:04.957 in June 2025, becoming the fastest production electric vehicle at the track, followed by the YU7 GT SUV setting a production SUV record of 7:22.755 in April 2026 .
- The SU7 Ultra, launched on February 27, 2025, at a starting price of 529,900 RMB, received over 10,000 orders within two hours; over half of buyers previously owned BMW 5 Series, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, or Audi A6 vehicles .
- Xiaomi's Yizhuang factory produces a new vehicle every 76 seconds, with new model development cycles of approximately 18 months compared to 4 to 5 years for traditional European and American automakers .
- In 2026, J.D. Power ranked Xiaomi SU7 and YU7 as the top two in China's new energy vehicle quality studies, with SU7 winning for the second consecutive year; Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe acknowledged after visiting a Chinese supplier's factory that "facing such strength, we have no chance of winning" .
Why It Matters
Xiaomi's transformation demonstrates how consumer electronics companies can inject rapid iteration and efficiency into the traditional automotive industry, challenging century-old automakers with development cycles less than half the industry standard. For Hong Kong, Xiaomi's journey from fast but light to embracing heavy manufacturing offers a potential model for local companies seeking to move beyond quick capital turnover and develop core competitive advantages in hardware and precision production .
Xiaomi's transformation demonstrates how consumer electronics companies can inject rapid iteration and efficiency into the traditional automotive industry, challenging century-old automakers with development cycles less than half the industry standard. For Hong Kong, Xiaomi's journey from fast but light to embracing heavy manufacturing offers a potential model for local companies seeking to move beyond quick capital turnover and develop core competitive advantages in hardware and precision production .