Starting from 253,500 yuan, the price of Xiaomi YU7 is announced. Lei Jun says it's "fair - priced". Are the "Teslas" scared?
Starting from 253,500 yuan!” After keeping the public in suspense for half a year, Lei Jun, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Xiaomi, announced the price of the Xiaomi YU7 on the evening of the 26th.
Live broadcast screenshot
The price of the Xiaomi YU7 was one of the biggest highlights of Xiaomi's full - ecosystem press conference for cars, homes, and other products on that day. Before the conference, Lei Jun posted on social media denying that “the standard version of the YU7 is 20,000 to 30,000 yuan more expensive than the standard version of the SU7 (215,900 yuan)”. However, he also expressed the view that the pricing of the YU7 would be reasonable.
At the event, Lei Jun announced the prices of the three versions of the Xiaomi YU7: the standard, Pro, and Max. They are 253,500 yuan, 279,900 yuan, and 329,900 yuan respectively.
At the press conference, Lei Jun introduced that the Xiaomi YU7 comes in a total of nine color options. In addition to the four colors announced last time - gem green, lava orange, titanium metal, and Cambrian rock gray - five new colors have been added: pearl white, deep - sea blue, Danxia purple, shadow cyan, and flowing gold powder.
Lei Jun said that the YU7 offers three wheel sizes and four interior color options. The interior colors are pine lime, coral orange, twilight shadow blue, and iris purple. The rear seats of the vehicle support electric adjustment, with a maximum adjustment angle of 135 degrees. They can also be electrically folded down with one click, instantly transforming into a large 1.8 - meter bed. In addition, the vehicle is equipped with two 80 - watt wireless charging devices, a vanity mirror, and an in - car smart refrigerator.
Lei Jun said that the YU7 has two important highlights. One is that all models come standard with noise - reducing laminated glass. More than 200 noise - reduction optimizations have been made to the entire vehicle to block noise from all directions. The other highlight is the sun - protection function. The YU7 has achieved data equivalent to SPF100 and PA++++ in terms of sun protection, making it particularly suitable for female car owners.
In terms of speed and range, Lei Jun said that the YU7 can reach a maximum speed of 253 kilometers per hour. Excluding the starting time, the acceleration from 0 to 100 kilometers can be controlled within 3 seconds at the fastest. “This performance is extremely impressive and on par with million - yuan luxury cars.” Lei Jun also mentioned that all models of the YU7 have a long range. The standard version has a range of 835 kilometers, ranking first among mid - to large - sized pure - electric SUVs.
In addition, regarding the issue of “motion sickness in electric cars” complained about by netizens, Lei Jun said that the YU7 has specifically developed a motion - sickness relief input mode. In the motion - sickness relief mode, the incidence of motion sickness is reduced by 51%, and the onset time of motion sickness is delayed by 16%. After rapid acceleration, the vehicle will be as stable as a high - speed train.
In terms of the highly anticipated assisted driving system, Lei Jun said that all models of the YU7 come standard with an NVIDIA Thor chip with a computing power of 700 TOPS, a lidar, a 4D millimeter - wave radar, 11 high - definition cameras, and 12 millimeter - wave radars. All models will be equipped with the 10 - million - Clips version of Xiaomi's end - to - end assisted driving system at launch, and the push is expected to start in late July.
At the press conference, Lei Jun emphasized the safety of the vehicle and clearly stated that the vehicle has obtained certifications from third - party professional institutions, including the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, in terms of power, charging, durability, reliability, and other aspects. The vehicle has completed 6.49 million kilometers of road tests.
What impact will the Xiaomi YU7 bring when it enters the SUV segment described by Lei Jun as “filled with strong competitors”? Facing the “Teslas” that have already achieved good market sales, what are the chances of success for the Xiaomi YU7?
Fierce competition in the segment
The mid - to large - sized SUV market targeted by the Xiaomi YU7 has not performed outstandingly in the past five months. Data from the China Passenger Car Association shows that the sales volume of the mid - to large - sized SUV segment in the first five months was 356,000 vehicles, a year - on - year decrease of 7.8%. The market share was 4%, a year - on - year reduction of 0.7 percentage points.
“In the first five months of this year, due to the impact of the replacement cycle of the main models, the overall performance of the mid - to large - sized SUV segment declined year - on - year. However, from the recent trend, as some products are upgraded, the performance of this segment is gradually strengthening.” Cui Dongshu, the secretary - general of the China Passenger Car Association, analyzed in an interview with China News Service.
In May this year, the mid - to large - sized SUV segment became the second - highest segment in terms of year - on - year growth rate, reaching 39.1%. The market share also exceeded 5.3%. Among them, the Li L6 and Li L7, which had the highest sales, were both newly launched in early May. In addition, the AITO M7 was newly launched in late April, and the Leapmotor C16 was newly launched in June.
Focusing on the 200,000 - yuan - level new - energy mid - to large - sized SUV segment, there are many competitors. Currently, the mainstream models on sale include the Li L6, Zhijie R7, Tang L DM, AITO M7, XPeng G9, IM LS6, Voyah FREE, and other models. However, taking May as an example, only the Li L6 had sales of over 10,000 vehicles.
Will the Xiaomi YU7 be a strong competitor in this segment?
Lei Jun posted on June 24th that the number of user reservations for the YU7 was three times that of the SU7 during the same period. He expects the YU7 to be as popular as the SU7. Based on the short - term performance of the Xiaomi SU7 after its launch at the end of March 2024, more than 50,000 large - order reservations were made within 27 minutes of its launch, and 88,900 large - order reservations were made within 24 hours of its launch.
Lei Jun said the day before the press conference: “I will be quite satisfied if the order performance of the YU7 in the early stage of sales exceeds that of the SU7 during the same period.”
Xiaomi YU7. Photo by Gong Chenyuan for China News Service
Next, a number of new cars will be launched in the mid - to large - sized SUV market where the Xiaomi YU7 is positioned, and they will compete with the YU7 in terms of product strength and price.
On June 24th, the pre - sale of the Voyah FREE+ started, with a pre - sale price starting from 229,900 yuan. It is one of the first models to be equipped with Huawei's Kunlun ADS 4.0 intelligent driving system and will be launched in July. The new mid - to large - sized SUV XPeng G7 under XPeng will also be launched in July, with a pre - sale price of 235,800 yuan and a computing power of over 2200 TOPS.
In addition, the Li i6 in the same segment will be launched in September this year. The management of Li Auto said in a conference call at the end of May that this model will target the pure - electric market above 200,000 yuan and has greater growth potential compared to extended - range and plug - in hybrid models.
“Consumers are looking forward to competitive models. Before the launch of these new models, there will definitely be a wait - and - see period in the market. After the launch of these new models, they will bring good growth to the segment they belong to.” Cui Dongshu said.
Yan Jinghui, a member of the Expert Committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, also has a similar view. He said that the launch of new models, whether they are facelifts, replacements, or brand - new products, has always been one of the important factors that can effectively stimulate market sales.
In addition to the continuous launch of new products, Cui Dongshu believes that there is a large potential for market diversion in the small - car market where the entry - level models of traditional luxury brands are located and the B - class (mid - sized) SUV segment, which will also bring significant growth to the mid - to large - sized SUV market.
“Tesla killer”?
The market that the Xiaomi YU7 aims to capture includes not only the mid - to large - sized SUV market but also the mid - sized SUV market.
At the pre - sale press conference a month ago, Lei Jun said that the Xiaomi YU7 would be fully benchmarked against the Model Y. He mentioned the latter 18 times at the event. When asked why he was benchmarking against the Model Y, Lei Jun explained that “the Model Y is the global sales champion and is very impressive”.
The Model Y is positioned as a mid - sized pure - electric SUV. In 2024, its sales in the Chinese market exceeded 480,000 vehicles, winning the sales championship of new - energy SUVs for the second consecutive year. In the first five months of this year, the cumulative sales of the Model Y were close to 130,000 vehicles. In May, the wholesale sales were 39,500 vehicles, still leading the new - energy SUV market.
At the end of May, the US media Electrek referred to the Xiaomi YU7 as a “Tesla killer” when reporting on it, stating that the YU7 is superior to Tesla's Model Y in terms of price, range, and design.
Lei Jun hopes that the Xiaomi YU7 can surpass the Model Y in terms of sales. On June 24th, he posted on social media that although the Tesla Model Y is a “legendary masterpiece” recognized in the industry and has been the global sales champion for many consecutive years, defeating many challengers, Xiaomi has still set an “ambitious” goal, which is for the Xiaomi YU7 to challenge the Model Y in terms of sales in the Chinese market.
“I am particularly confident in terms of product strength.” Lei Jun said that the Xiaomi YU7 has been carefully designed in terms of product design, performance, and intelligent configuration. However, he also admitted that the final sales performance will depend on the market feedback and consumer acceptance after the product is launched.
Yan Jinghui believes that Lei Jun's repeated mentions of the Model Y in public are a marketing strategy to attract consumers' attention by leveraging the influence of a strong - brand competitor. If the product has a good reputation during the later sales process, it can meet Lei Jun's expectations. “This can be regarded as Lei Jun's marketing technique of leveraging the influence of others.”
“As a technology company, Lei Jun must believe that this car can at least compete with the Model Y in terms of intelligence or technological innovation, which is why he has the confidence to say such things.” Yan Jinghui said.
In terms of product strength, the Xiaomi YU7 is one size larger than the Model Y. In terms of range, according to the official website information, the range of the former is 760 kilometers to 835 kilometers, which is better than the Model Y's 593 kilometers to 719 kilometers. In terms of price, the starting price of the Xiaomi YU7 is 10,000 yuan lower than that of the Model Y. The two - wheel - drive version of the Model Y is priced at 263,500 yuan, and the four - wheel - drive long - range version is priced at 313,500 yuan.
However, the relevant person in charge of a market analysis institution said: “A simple comparison of parameters has no reference value. We still need to comprehensively evaluate the product based on multiple factors such as the actual performance after the product is launched and the consumer experience to draw relevant conclusions.”
This article is from the WeChat official account “China News Service” (ID: jwview). Author: Gong Chenyuan, Editor: Li Xiaoxuan, Responsible Editors: Chang Tao and Li Zhongyuan. Republished by 36Kr with permission.