Following a fatal crash involving its SU7 sedan in March that resulted in declining orders, Xiaomi has made the decision to postpone the launch of its YU7 electric SUV.
Xiaomi is in a multi-front fight to hold its own against BYD, Nio and Tesla in the electric vehicles market and Apple and Huawei in the smartphone industry.
Xiaomi postpones SUV launch
The Chinese tech giant Xiaomi has announced that the official launch of its electric SUV, the YU7, will be delayed until July 2025 following a fatal crash involving its SU7 sedan back in March.
The decision was confirmed by Xiaomi’s founder and CEO, Lei Jun, via his personal Weibo account on Thursday, May 22.
The vehicle was initially intended to debut at the Shanghai Auto Show in April, but the YU7 was absent, which sparked speculations about the delay.
This week, Lei Jun clarified the situation, stating: “YU7 is expected to be officially launched in July. Tonight’s pre-press conference will not announce the official price.”
The YU7 will be Xiaomi’s second electric vehicle, marketed as a “luxury high-performance SUV” aimed directly at challenging Tesla’s Model Y in the Chinese market. The launch of Xiaomi’s full-size electric sedan SU7 marked the company’s formal entry into the automotive sector last year.
The SU7 was initially well-received and even outsold Tesla’s Model 3 in monthly sales beginning December 2024. However, a fatal accident involving the model in March significantly slowed the brand’s momentum, causing a decline in orders.
Industry analysts believe the postponement of the YU7’s launch is an attempt by Xiaomi to rebuild consumer confidence and ensure that the SUV meets the rigorous safety and performance expectations now placed on the company.
A 3nm mobile chip battleground
While much of the public attention has been on Xiaomi’s electric vehicles, the company also made headlines this week by announcing the debut of its first independently developed 3-nanometer smartphone chip, the Xring O1.
The chip is a significant step in Xiaomi’s ambition to become a leader in semiconductor technology. Xiaomi’s entry into chip development began in 2014, with the release of the 28-nm Pengpai S1 processor in 2017.
However, the company faced early setbacks and pivoted to simpler chipsets. It wasn’t until 2021, the same year Xiaomi announced its move into the production of electric vehicles, that the company revived its smartphone chip ambitions
According to the company’s CEO, Lei Jun, the chip has officially entered mass production and has made Xiaomi one of the four companies worldwide capable of independently designing chips of this caliber.
During Thursday’s event, Xiaomi also introduced its new Xiaomi 15S Pro smartphone, which will feature the new chip.
In a separate post, Lei Jun shared that Xiaomi has invested 13.5B yuan, approximately $1.87B, into developing the Xring O1. The company still plans to invest an additional 50B yuan over the next decade, specifically for chip development and innovation.
“Xiaomi has always had a chip dream,” Lei said. “Because in order to become a great hard technology company, chips are a peak that must be climbed. We will definitely go all out.”
China’s smartphone market has become increasingly competitive, with players like Huawei and Apple that can leverage their proprietary chips to create complex ecosystems that improve performance and user experience.
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