Xiaomi Won’t Sell Cars Outside China Till at Least 2027: CEO Lei Jun

As wait times for the newly launched Xiaomi YU7 electric SUV stretch to a year, CEO Lei Jun has stated that the company will focus on satisfying domestic demand before even considering an expansion into other countries. He made the remark during a livestream presentation, according to local news reports. While the new YU7 is earning praise for its style, performance claims and competitive pricing, customers are reportedly frustrated that only limited units will be available as Xiaomi’s production capacity seemingly cannot keep up with demand.

The company faces similar supply challenges with its SU7 sedan, which while launched last year, still shows wait times of eight months or more for several variants. Already, Xiaomi has expanded its manufacturing facility near Beijing, with Phase 2 likely already complete and likely to begin operations within a month. Local news reports suggest that the company is currently hiring staff to handle various manufacturing and logistics-related job functions.

Phase 3 of production capacity expansion is also likely in full swing, with the company acquiring a large plot of land adjacent to the current EV plant just last month. The YU7 is expected to be even more in demand than the SU7, given consumers’ preference for SUVs. It is set to compete directly with the Tesla Model Y. Xiaomi reported over 200,000 conditional pre-bookings for the YU7 within three minutes of it going on sale. Over 240,000 orders were locked in, with a significant downpayment made, within 18 hours. 

Xiaomi had previously announced it was raising its production target to 350,000 cars in 2025, from 300,000. The company reported delivering 28,000 cars in June, making that its eighth consecutive month of deliveries crossing 20,000.

In early 2024, CEO Lei Jun had spoken about his ambition to become one of the world’s top five carmakers within 15-20 years, selling over 10 million cars annually by 2044. Europe is likely to be high on Xiaomi’s priority list. The SU7 was shown off at the MWC trade fair 2024 in Barcelona very shortly after its formal launch in China. However, no such plans have been publicly announced.