All posts by Francis Mitterrand

News

Xiaomi has big plans for 2025

Since entering the automotive industry three years ago, Chinese tech company Xiaomi has been recording remarkable results. Its first car, the SU7, has been a hit on the market since it entered production in March 2024, with 135,000 units sold. Driven by the success of this model and versions based on it, Xiaomi is now announcing even greater results. According to the latest information, the Chinese company plans to almost triple sales in 2025, and its main trump card should be its new SUV, the Xiaomi YU7.

Information about Xiaomi’s first SUV was published on Weibo, and it is a 4,999 mm long, 1,996 mm wide and 1,600 mm high car, with a wheelbase of 3,000 mm and a weight of 2,405 kg. It is not known which battery it will use, but information suggests that it could be one of the batteries from CATL. It will come in two versions, powered by two electric motors with a total power of 300 and 392 hp.

Xiaomi hasn’t revealed many details about the car, which is expected to hit the market in the summer of 2025.

The SU7 debuted in March 2024, and the presentation was attended by many famous people from the world of the automotive industry including the former head of design of the BMW Group Chris Bangle (currently a design consultant for Xiaomi vehicles) who said that he was impressed by the power of the SU7 and that it would be great to have this car in Europe. The exterior design was done by James Qiu who arrived at XIaomi from Mercedes-Benz, where he worked on the design of the Vision EQXX concept.

The car comes in three versions: SU7, SU7 Pro and SU7 Max. The standard version is powered by an electric motor with 299 hp (220 kW) and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque, and will have RWD. It will accelerate from 0 – 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.28 seconds with a top speed of 210 km/h (130 mph). It is equipped with a BYD Blade 73.6 kWh battery that provides a range of 700 kilometers.

The more powerful version of the SU7 Pro will be equipped with an 800V architecture, and a 94.3 kWh battery that provides a range of 830 km. However, the most powerful version, Xiaomi SU7 Max, is really impressive. It is powered by two electric motors with a total output of 673 hp (495 kW) and 618 lb-ft (838 Nm) of torque, and has AWD. It reaches 100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.78 seconds with a top speed of 265 km/h (165 mph). It is equipped with the Xiami Pilot Max ADAS system, 800V architecture, and a CATI Qilin 101 kWh battery that enables a range of 800 km, or 510 km after a 15-minute charge.

Source: Xiaomi via Weibo

Auctions

1964 Shelby Cobra 289 FIA 50th Anniversary Edition is up for auction

The Shelby Cobra is a sports car produced by the American company AC Cars in the early 1960s. In 1964, Shelby debuted two body styles in the FIA ​​Manufacturer’s World Championship, the Daytona Coupe and the Roadster Cobra. Both were very powerful but not enough to initially dethrone Ferrari. However, they did manage to do so in 1965 when they secured America’s first FIA Manufacturer’s World Championship. Celebrating their 50th anniversary, Shelby American introduced the Cobra 289 FIA 50th Anniversary Edition as part of their Cobra Continuation Series. Only 50 examples were produced and one of them, the 1964 Shelby Cobra 289 FIA 50th Anniversary Edition, is up for auction.

The car is finished in Viking Blue, decorated with a white strip that runs the width of the front part and white circles on the hood, rear cover and sides with the number 50. It is equipped with a three-inch “drawn over Mandrel” tube chassis, an original wood-rimmed steering wheel, polished Monza-style fuel filler, Stewart Warner gauges, dashboard-mounted rearview mirror, an FIA-spec rollbar, and side-exit exhaust.

This Cobra is breathtaking but also provides an impressive driving experience for all road racing fans of the last century. It is powered by a powerful 302-cubic-inch V-8 engine which has been stroked to 363 cubic inches with more than 500 hp (373 kW) and 450 lb-ft (610 Nm) of torque. The engine is equipped with four Weber 48 IDA carburetors, and power is sent to the rear wheels via a TKO 600 Tremec five-speed manual transmission and a Kirkham TorqueTrak differential.

The auction will take place on January 24, 2025 and the estimated value of the car is $200,000 – $250,000 USD (Offered Without Reserve).

Source: RM Sotheby’s

Gallery:

1964 Shelby Cobra 289 FIA 50th Anniversary Edition is up for auction
News

BYD is the world’s largest EV producer

The Chinese company BYD has been one of the world’s largest car manufacturers for a long time, and now it has finally sat on the throne. According to the latest data, in 2024 BYD sold 1,777,965 EVs, dethroning the long-time leader Tesla.

The year 2024 is over and it brought some changes with it. After the manufacturers collected their sales results, we got a new automotive king of electric cars. Chinese manufacturers have once again shown that they are unstoppable and that their development can hardly be followed by other manufacturers.

In 2023, Tesla produced 1.85 million electric vehicles, while 1.6 million EVs came out of BYD’s factories. However, strong competition, price and an aging fleet of Tesla EVs drove customers to competitors. Since the beginning of the year, the figures showed a drop in demand, which happened for the first time in the history of this American company.

On the other hand, Chinese companies have increased production and entered the global market. This resulted in BYD’s total sales last year increasing by 41 percent to 4.27 million cars. However, if you look at the numbers differently, Tesla is in advantages. The American company sold 1.79 million electric vehicles, while BYD sold about 1.65 million. So, these figures refer to the number of cars sold, not produced, so in this case Tesla has a slight advantage. This means that Tesla sold thousands of cars produced in 2023.

Back in 2023, China showed that it was not kidding and that sooner or later it would become a leader in automobile production. Their cars have become technologically better but also more affordable, which other big manufacturers cannot keep up with.

Source: Reuters