Xiaomi Hits 500,000 EVs—and Puts the Industry on Notice
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Xiaomi Hits 500,000 EVs—and Puts the Industry on Notice

In the world of electric cars, speed isn’t just measured in seconds to 60. It’s measured in how fast a company can go from zero to relevance. Some newcomers flame out as quickly as they appear, but Xiaomi—the Chinese tech giant best known for smartphones and smart-home gadgets—has launched itself into the EV arena like a silicon-powered rocket.

The company has just built its 500,000th vehicle, an achievement that would be impressive for any young automaker. What makes it staggering is the timeline: one year and seven months after the first Xiaomi EV rolled off the line. That makes Xiaomi one of the fastest companies on the planet to hit the half-million mark.

From Phones to Four Wheels

Xiaomi officially declared its entry into carmaking in March 2021, but the real ignition switch was flipped in March 2024 with the SU7, a sleek electric sedan that aimed straight at the segment’s benchmark. With multiple variants and a design philosophy borrowed from the gadget world—clean, modern, minimalist—the SU7 helped Xiaomi go from “curious experiment” to “credible threat” overnight.

By June, Xiaomi doubled down with the YU7, expanding its lineup and signaling that the company wasn’t here to toy with the market; it was here to compete across segments.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Production milestones tell one story, but shipments reveal the truth: people are actually buying these cars.

  • 135,000 Xiaomi EVs sold in 2024, the company’s first full sales year.
  • 315,376 shipments from January to October 2025.
  • 108,796 units shipped in Q3 alone, up a massive 173% year over year.
  • 48,654 units shipped in October, proving demand is accelerating, not leveling off.

Founder and CEO Lei Jun now expects Xiaomi EV to surpass 400,000 total shipments in 2025, up from an earlier 350,000-unit target. And that 500,000th car already built? It’s scheduled to reach its buyer within days—evidence that Xiaomi’s supply chain moves as fast as its assembly lines.

The Gamble That Paid Off

Jumping from phones to cars isn’t a pivot; it’s a moonshot. But Xiaomi’s EV division is showing signs that the risk was worth it.

For the first time, Xiaomi’s “innovative businesses”—driven almost entirely by EVs—posted a quarterly profit.

  • RMB 700 million net income (~€84 million).
  • RMB 29 billion in revenue, with EVs contributing a massive RMB 28.3 billion.

In short: cars are now Xiaomi’s biggest moneymaker.

Yet, the stock market remains unconvinced. Despite the record quarter, Xiaomi’s share price dipped 2.22%, part of a larger 33% drop over two months. Investors seem jittery about China’s hyper-competitive EV landscape and uncertainties elsewhere in the company’s portfolio.

It’s a reminder that even blowing past milestones doesn’t guarantee smooth sailing on Wall Street.

A New EV Powerhouse?

Xiaomi’s sprint from smartphone manufacturer to high-volume EV producer is the kind of story legacy automakers once dismissed as impossible. Not anymore.

Reaching 500,000 cars built in under two years—and pushing toward 400,000+ annual deliveries—cements Xiaomi as a major player in the global EV race. Whether traditional automakers like it or not, the frontier of electric mobility is no longer guarded by the “old guard.”

Xiaomi didn’t just enter the EV market.
It blasted its way to the front of the pack.

Source: Xiaomi