Chinese electronics company Xiaomi’s first electric vehicle SU7 is decorating the Chinese media every day. It is creating a sensation with 90,000 units sold in 24 hours after its launch, but the period of delivery of vehicles continues to increase for a while due to the rush of orders.
According to the Chinese media and financial industry on Tuesday, SU7 is gaining popularity among young people with a “nice price” of 215,900 yuan. It received about 1,800 to 2,000 reservations per offline store, but only 35 to 40 percent of them were actually signed. According to Xiaomi’s official announcement early on Monday, about 40,000 SU7 sales contracts were signed. The cancellation rate also reached 40 percent. Although the actual contract was made less than expected, the production schedule is uncertain.
Originally, on March 31, Xiaomi announced that the delivery period for the SU7 base model was 16 to 19 weeks, 17 to 20 weeks for PROSMS, and 26 to 29 weeks for the Max model. However, three days later, the existing plan has increased by as little as two weeks and as much as three weeks. In the case of the Max model, delivery is possible up to 31 weeks, and about eight months later. Xiaomi is already discussing increasing production capacity, but it seems practically impossible to solve it quickly.
Interestingly, the consumers who cheer for Xiaomi’s electric cars are young people between the ages of 25 and 35, and women are more likely than men. Most of them are sensitive to online information and are known to have a low understanding of automobiles, and are heavily influenced by their brand influence and image of Xiaomi’s chairman, Lei Jun.
Meanwhile, some people are complaining that it is difficult to cancel SU7’s reservation. On social media, some consumers posted a message that SU7’s reservation fee of 5,000 yuan cannot be refunded. One man tagged Raijun and appealed, “Please return the reservation fee.” Xiaomi responded that it has extended the refundable period to the current seven days.
In the industry, Chinese electric vehicle companies such as NIO, Li Shang, and Xiaofeng also said that the key is how to catch “two rabbits” in safety and productivity in the future, with annual sales remaining at 100,000 units.
SOPHIA KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
