Xiaomi held a board meeting at its EV factory, where directors toured the plant and test drove the Xiaomi SU7, its founder said.
(An image of the Xiaomi EV factory shared by Lei Jun, founder, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi, on Weibo.)
Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi (HKG: 1810, OTCMKTS: XIACY) has made the first public appearance of its factory, as its first model, the SU7, is less than 10 days away from its official launch.
"Today is a special day as Xiaomi EV's super factory is officially unveiled," Lei Jun, founder, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi, wrote on Weibo today.
"This board meeting was chosen to be held at the Xiaomi EV factory, where the directors toured the factory and test drove the Xiaomi SU7," Lei said.
Lei didn't provide more information, but shared a picture showing a part of the Xiaomi EV factory.
Xiaomi will officially launch the SU7 on March 28 and deliveries will begin soon after the launch, the company announced on March 12.
Xiaomi will allow customers to experience the SU7 starting March 25, and reservations are currently open. The first available stores for the model's show cars are 59 across 29 cities.
Xiaomi announced its entry into car building on March 30, 2021, and on December 28, 2023, it let the SU7 to make its debut.
Xiaomi has not previously mentioned a possible price range for the SU7. Local media outlet Jiemian cited an unnamed source at a major insurance company in a January 30 report that the SU7's top-trim version costs RMB 361,400 ($50,200) for the vehicle at the time of insurance purchase.
This means that the Xiaomi SU7's starting price will likely be between RMB 250,000 and RMB 370,000, Jiemian's report noted.
For reference, Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model 3 sedan is currently offered in two versions in China, with starting prices of RMB 245,900 and RMB 285,900, respectively. The Xiaomi SU7 is larger than the Model 3.
On March 13, Cailian reported that the Xiaomi SU7 could be offered in two trim levels, with the top-of-the-line SU7 Max to be priced at more than the roughly RMB 300,000 price tag of the top-trim version of the Huawei-backed Aito's M5 SUV.
When the Xiaomi SU7's show cars become available at some stores on March 25, customers will only be able to check out the exteriors and will not be able to get inside the car, according to the report.
Test drives of the Xiaomi SU7 will only open on March 28, according to the report.
($1 = RMB 7.1995)
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