A
Xiaomi
SU7
electric
sedan
is
seen
displayed
at
a
regional
HQ
of
Xiaomi
in
Nanjing
in
east
China’s
Jiangsu
province.
Future
Publishing
|
Future
Publishing
|
Getty
Images
BEIJING
—
Shares
of
Chinese
smartphone
maker
Xiaomi
surged
15%
when
the
Hong
Kong
market
opened
Tuesday,
the
first
trading
day
since
the
company
launched
its
SU7
electric
car
ahead
of
the
Easter
holiday.
In
a
sign
of
how
competitive
China’s
electric
car
market
is,
Xiaomi
announced
late
Thursday
that
the
SU7
would
be
priced
at
about
$4,000
less
than
Tesla‘s
Model
3,
and
claimed
the
new
car
would
have
a
longer
driving
range.
As
of
Tuesday
morning,
Xiaomi’s
online
store
showed
wait
times
of
at
least
5
months
for
a
basic
version
of
the
SU7.
The
company
had
said
it
received
orders
for
more
than
50,000
cars
in
the
27
minutes
since
sales
started
at
10
p.m.
Beijing
time
Thursday.
Chinese
EV
startups
Xpeng
and
Nio
announced
car
purchase
subsidies
Monday
of
20,000
yuan
($2,800)
and
10,000
yuan
each,
respectively.
Nio
said
the
promotional
deal
followed
the
Chinese
government’s
policy
efforts
to
promote
consumption
with
trade-ins.
The
price
reductions
come
as
growth
of
new
energy
vehicles
in
the
world’s
largest
auto
market
shows
signs
of
slowing.
Penetration
of
battery
and
hybrid-powered
passenger
cars
has
surpassed
more
than
one
third
of
new
cars
sold
in
China,
according
to
the
China
Passenger
Car
Association.
watch
now
Li
Auto,
most
of
whose
cars
come
with
a
fuel
tank
to
extend
driving
range,
said
Monday
it
delivered
28,984
cars
in
March.
While
up
from
February,
the
figure
is
below
Li
Auto’s
recent
delivery
streak.
The
company
in
late
March
cut
its
first
quarter
delivery
estimate
by
more
than
20,000
vehicles.
Around
the
same
time,
Nio
also
trimmed
its
first
quarter
forecast
by
a
few
thousand
cars.
The
company
said
Monday
it
delivered
11,866
cars
in
March.
Xpeng
delivered
even
fewer
cars
last
month,
at
9,026
vehicles.
In
contrast,
Huawei’s
new
energy
car
brand
Aito
said
it
delivered
31,727
cars
in
March.
BYD
remained
the
industry
giant
with
139,902
battery-powered
passenger
cars
sold
in
March,
and
161,729
hybrid
vehicles
sold
during
that
time.
BYD’s
total
passenger
car
sales
last
month
rose
by
nearly
14%
from
a
year
ago.
