Xiaomi hits 500,000 EV production milestone

Xiaomi Corp's electric vehicle unit celebrated a significant milestone on Thursday, as its 500,000th car rolled off the production line at its super factory in Beijing.

This achievement comes just 602 days, or under 20 months, after the official launch of its first model, the SU7, on March 28, 2024, setting a new global record for the fastest pace to this production mark among new energy vehicle makers, the company said.

Lei Jun, founder, chairman, and CEO of Xiaomi, said that this milestone "signifies that Xiaomi's auto unit's comprehensive capabilities, including research and development, manufacturing, sales, delivery, and service, have been fully validated".

The production landmark follows a robust quarterly earnings report released earlier this week. In the third quarter, Xiaomi delivered over 100,000 vehicles, a record for any single quarter and a surge of 173.4 percent year-on-year. Total deliveries for the first three quarters of the year surpassed 260,000 units, with September and October each seeing over 40,000 vehicles delivered.

The company anticipates that it will achieve its full-year delivery target of 350,000 units this week — about five weeks ahead of schedule. According to Lei, the company is projected to deliver over 400,000 vehicles by the end of 2025. Notably, the smart EV segment reported revenue of 28.3 billion yuan ($3.98 billion) and achieved its first quarterly profit in the third quarter.

Xiaomi said the company's manufacturing push is bolstering the supply chain, directly driving over 300 auto parts enterprises.