Which cars have a delivery waiting time of over a year?

When you book a car, how soon do you hope to pick it up?

Most people definitely think the sooner the better, ideally on the same day. In the new - energy vehicle market where "futures cars" are prevalent, this is obviously not possible. We consulted hundreds of consumers, and many of them expressed the view that "three months is the limit."

It can only be said that these people won't be able to drive a Xiaomi car in the next few years. Even for the Xiaomi SU7, which was launched more than a year ago, the fastest delivery time is still 33 weeks, that is, 8 months. And for the recently launched Xiaomi YU7, the standard version requires a wait of one year and two months.

The Xiaomi YU7 became a legend in just three minutes, which is rare in the entire development history of the automotive industry. However, at the same time, the long delivery cycle has also attracted the attention and complaints of netizens and consumers. Some people have even jointly requested to get their deposits back.

Picture/Xiaomi YU7's large - order bookings exceeded 200,000 in 3 minutes. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

In fact, in the automotive industry, the phenomenon of long delivery cycles occurs from time to time.

From six months to a year, and for some individual models, the waiting time for car owners can be as long as three years... These models attract a large number of consumers and become market hits due to their high - end brand positioning, unique performance, or comfortable driving experience.

However, for consumers, is it really worth waiting for a year? Will the car they've been longing for still meet their needs when they placed the order after a year?

1. Cars that make consumers willing to wait for a year

The Xiaomi YU7 has become extremely popular, but the subsequent one - year - long delivery time has also sparked heated discussions among netizens.

The Xiaomi Car App shows that the fastest delivery time for the standard version of the Xiaomi YU7 after locking the order is 58 - 61 weeks. That means the delivery time for the standard version of the Xiaomi YU7 has exceeded one year, with a maximum of one year and two months.

The delivery times for the YU7 Pro and YU7 Max after locking the order, although shorter than that of the standard version of the YU7, are 52 - 55 weeks and 41 - 44 weeks respectively, which basically also take about one year.

Picture/Fluctuating delivery cycle of Xiaomi YU7. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

No wonder netizens complain that "by the time you pick up the car, the vehicle purchase tax will be under a new policy."

Actually, it's not just the newly launched Xiaomi YU7. Even the Xiaomi SU7, which has been on the market for more than a year, still requires a wait of more than half a year.

The Xiaomi Car App shows that the fastest delivery times for the standard version, Pro version, and Max version of the Xiaomi SU7 after locking the order are 38 - 41 weeks, 35 - 38 weeks, and 33 - 36 weeks respectively.

Picture/Fluctuating delivery cycle of Xiaomi SU7. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

Consumers place orders for their dream cars with high expectations but have to go through a long waiting period, which inevitably makes them unhappy. However, in fact, Xiaomi cars are not the only ones that make consumers wait for half a year or a year.

According to public information, currently, customers who have booked the top - of - the - line Lamborghini Revuelto need to wait patiently for more than two years, that is, until 2027 to pick up the car. And for the Urus, Lamborghini's main model, the orders have been scheduled until 2026.

Picture/Lamborghini Revuelto. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

The Porsche Panamera, also in the luxury car camp and a representative of senior luxury sports cars, has always maintained a delivery cycle of about half a year from the time of ordering to picking up the car.

Picture/Porsche Panamera. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

In addition, owners of the Rolls - Royce Spectre, another luxury car under the Rolls - Royce brand, may finally enter the "harvest period" after a long wait of more than a dozen months.

As Rolls - Royce's first all - electric sedan, the Spectre is hand - crafted, with limited production capacity. Coupled with the increasing number of orders, the entire delivery cycle has been extended. Previously, Rolls - Royce CEO Torsten Müller - Ötvös said that if you book the Spectre now (in 2023), you won't get the car until 2025.

Perhaps because of the long waiting time, well - known car reviewer Chen Zhen bought a second - hand Rolls - Royce Spectre more than a month ago.

Picture/Rolls - Royce Spectre. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

In the MPV field, there have also been some phenomenon - level models with long delivery times. Take Toyota's Alphard, Vellfire, and Sienna as examples. In 2023, even in Japan, the waiting time for the new Toyota Alphard and Vellfire after placing an order may not be three or six months, but as long as three years. In China, if you find a parallel importer, you don't need to wait that long, but you have to pay an additional 250,000 yuan to get the car immediately.

Picture/Toyota Alphard - Vellfire - Sienna. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

Is there a car with a similar price range to the Xiaomi YU7 that is also popular among consumers and makes them willing to wait for more than half a year? Yes, three years ago, for some models of the Tesla Model Y, the delivery time reached 24 weeks. Now, its delivery time is only 1 - 3 weeks.

Picture/Tesla Model Y. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

2. Why do these cars arrive late?

Upon closer inspection, it's not difficult to find that although these "long - undelivered" models belong to different brands, have significant differences in pricing ranges, and even have different power modes, they have one fundamental thing in common - they are all popular models in their respective market segments.

These models either rely on their high - end brand image or outstanding cost - performance ratio to form a differentiated competitive edge among models in the same class and ultimately become popular choices that are hard to come by.

Since its release, the Xiaomi YU7 has soared in popularity and has become the preferred choice for "people who can't tolerate mediocrity," "people who are always at the forefront of the times," and "people who shoulder responsibilities but still have a longing for the distance."

Picture/Xiaomi YU7. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

The Lamborghini Revuelto, as a top - class sports car, is highly sought after by super - car enthusiasts for its excellent power parameters and unique aerodynamic design.

The Toyota Alphard has become a benchmark model in the MPV segment with its comfortable driving experience and brand influence.

In addition to the high popularity of the models themselves, objective limitations such as insufficient supply - chain resilience and long production and manufacturing cycles are also important reasons for delivery delays.

In recent years, the chip - producing regions have been affected by pandemic - related lockdowns, resulting in a significant reduction in the supply of automotive - grade chips. As a key component of the automotive electronic system, the shortage of chips directly affects the production progress of the entire vehicle.

Moreover, for new - energy vehicles, the delivery time is also affected by the power battery.

Take the Xiaomi SU7 as an example. Before May 2024, its standard version was equipped with lithium - iron - phosphate blade batteries provided by BYD's Fudi Factory. However, due to a series of factors such as insufficient cell production capacity, the delivery time of the standard version of the Xiaomi SU7 was significantly extended.

To solve this problem, starting from May 25, 2024, Xiaomi added a battery supplier for the standard version and introduced batteries from CATL. Since then, the standard version of the Xiaomi SU7 equipped with CATL batteries has been delivered to consumers. Thanks to CATL's strong production - capacity guarantee, the delivery pressure of the Xiaomi SU7 has been alleviated to a certain extent.

Of course, the slow delivery of Xiaomi cars is mainly affected by the current production - capacity scale. The maximum production capacity of its Yizhuang factory is 300,000 vehicles, and the second - phase factory has just been completed, with a planned production capacity of 150,000 vehicles. Even if operating at full capacity, the delivery volume this year will not exceed 400,000 vehicles. It should be noted that there are still more than 140,000 undelivered orders for the Xiaomi SU7, and the number of locked orders for the Xiaomi YU7 exceeded 240,000 within 18 hours of its launch.

Picture/Xiaomi YU7's locked orders exceeded 240,000. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

This is a "happy trouble" for Xiaomi. In addition, for hand - crafted and customized models like the Rolls - Royce Spectre, there are objectively long production cycles. Coupled with many limitations in the production and manufacturing process, such as the need for a large amount of process debugging when a new model is put into production and the need for workers to gradually improve their proficiency in new production processes, these problems will further lead to a slow increase in production capacity.

If the impact of the above - mentioned problems on the delivery time is predictable, then the sudden increase in orders due to factors such as hot discussions on social media or the star effect can cause car manufacturers to misjudge market demand, thus also leading to delivery delays.

3. Is it really worth waiting for a year?

In today's automotive market, the pace and frequency of new - car launches have even exceeded those in the mobile - phone market, with more than a dozen new cars being launched within a week. Against this background, is it really worth waiting for a year for a car?

Recently, at the Xiaomi Home in Wukesong Huaxi Live, Beijing, a young man waiting in line for a test drive told us that both his parents have car - purchase quotas, and the two cars at home are both fuel - powered cars. However, due to his and his mother's love for the Xiaomi brand, the appearance of the Xiaomi YU7, and the fact that he just graduated, they plan to trade in one of the cars.