Xiaomi Made a Big Bet on Electric Vehicles and Won

05/14/25 • 25 min

In early 2021, smartphone and electronics maker Xiaomi was blacklisted by Washington, restricting its access to US technology and investors. Although this decision was later reversed, it motivated CEO and founder Lei Jun to enter China's ultra-competitive electric vehicle market, pledging to invest $10 billion over a decade. The bold move has paid off: in China, buyers are waiting up to 10 months to purchase Xiaomi's SU7, and the company's shares have surged more than 150% in the past year.

How did a manufacturer of cheap smartphones and budget appliances create one of the most desirable vehicles in China in just three years? And can Xiaomi continue to deliver on high investor expectations and stand out from its competitors with the launch of its new YU7 model this summer? Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Joanna Chen and Steven Tseng join John Lee on the Asia Centric podcast.

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Asia Centric by Bloomberg Intelligence - Xiaomi Made a Big Bet on Electric Vehicles and Won

Transcript

Speaker 100:00:02.000

China dominates the electric vehicle market. BYD has overtaken Tesla as the world's largest EV maker, and now almost two out of every three EV sold globally and made by Chinese companies. But what may surprise listeners is that the most in demand EV model in China is not made by Tesla or BYD. It's actually made by Chaomi, the company best known for making budget smartphones and other consumer electronic devices. How did Chami create arguably the