"I've decided to sell my gas car and get the Xiaomi SU7."
Li Yang (pseudonym), a longtime Mi fan living in Hangzhou, couldn't contain his excitement after the launch event of Xiaomi's car. Unable to grab the Founder's Edition, Li Yang promptly placed an order via the app, opting for an orange-colored Xiaomi SU7 MAX edition.
Xiaomi's new car, the SU7, has become a top seller since its release! According to official data from Xiaomi, it reached over 10,000 orders in just 4 minutes, 20,000 in 7 minutes, and 50,000 in 27 minutes. Within 24 hours of its release, Xiaomi's CEO, Lei Jun, announced on his official Weibo account that the SU7 had received over 88,898 orders.
Simultaneously, Xiaomi has been trending multiple times on social media, but controversies have arisen as well. Some consumers have complained on consumer rights platforms that they cannot get a refund for the 5,000 CNY car deposit.
In response to queries about refunding the deposit, Xiaomi stated to a reporter from Caijing News that they support no-reason refunds within 7 days of placing the deposit. After 7 days, the car configuration will be locked automatically, but consumers can also proactively lock in their chosen configuration. Once the order is locked, the car enters the production phase, and the configuration cannot be changed, and the deposit becomes non-refundable. Additionally, for the Founders Edition, the configuration is already locked once the 20,000 CNY deposit is paid.
According to Xiaomi's car division, as of 12:00 PM on March 29th, their customer service system has received a total of 469 requests for cancellations or changes to orders.
On the first day of the SU7's release, reporters from Caijing News visited several stores in Beijing and Hangzhou and found customers who had mistakenly locked in their orders discussing refunds with Xiaomi store sales staff. According to sales staff at the Hangzhou store, over 1,000 new cars have already been reserved. If customers only wish to test drive without making a deposit, they need to wait for about a week, with priority given to those who have placed deposits.
Furthermore, reporters from Caijing News also noted that purchasing the Xiaomi SU7 supports installment payments. Sales staff at the Hangzhou Xiaomi car dealership told reporters that the minimum down payment for installment purchases is 15%, with loans available for up to 5 years.
Information obtained from Xiaomi indicates that deliveries for the Founders Edition of the SU7 will start as early as April 3rd, while other versions will begin deliveries from late April to late May.
The offline stores are bustling with activity. At the Xiaomi car store in Wangfujing, Beijing, reporters found a large number of users gathered to experience the SU7. Sales staff at Xiaomi's car dealership informed reporters that they hadn't taken a break since the store opened at 10:00 AM and hadn't had time to eat because "there are so many people coming to see the cars."
The sales representative added, "Today, we didn't have many customers actually placing orders, but our test drive appointments are fully booked. We'll need to schedule you for next week and then notify you."
The journalist speculated that obtaining license plates for the Xiaomi SU7 in Beijing might not be easy due to the queue system for new energy vehicle plates and the lottery system for gasoline vehicle plates, making it difficult to acquire them through auction.
While speaking with the journalist, another customer approached seeking advice. They mentioned that they excitedly paid a deposit to reserve a Xiaomi SU7 MAX last night but now wanted a refund due to the inability to obtain a car license plate. The sales representative responded to the customer, saying, "I'll need to discuss this with my colleagues internally. Refunding might be a bit challenging in this situation, but it's not impossible."
During the interview with a reporter from Caixin, while experiencing the Xiaomi SU7, another "Mi fan" struck up a conversation, saying, "I also have an older model Tesla Model 3 at home, and it's about time to change cars. I've been keeping an eye on the Xiaomi SU7."
The "Mi fan" was well-versed in the various specifications of the Xiaomi SU7, even pulling out their Xiaomi 14 Pro to show the reporter screenshots of the key parameters of the Xiaomi SU7 taken during the launch event, and explaining some of the differences in configuration between the standard and MAX versions.
Furthermore, reporters from Caixin Global visited the Xiaomi Car Experience Store located in Hangzhou's Joy City. Even close to 10 p.m. when the mall closes, there are still many customers coming in for test drives.
"Just now, I have 16 customers lined up for test drives," said a salesperson in the store to the reporter. Currently, the store has 5 test drive cars, the most among Xiaomi stores in Hangzhou, but the demand for test drives exceeds the supply. Each car needs to be filled with five people for the test drive, rotating through the queue.
"Everyone can make a reservation for a test drive, but priority is given to customers with confirmed orders. Other customers are arranged for test drives in order," explained the Xiaomi car salesperson to the reporter.
Li Yang told Caixin Global that he has already booked a test drive opportunity for Sunday.
"Currently, test drive reservations are very popular." According to Xiaomi's official response, the store expects about 90-120 test drives per day, with current reservations taking approximately 3-5 days.
Xiaomi Car Responds to "All" Doubts With the soaring popularity of the Xiaomi Car SU7, controversies have arisen. First, there were reports that the F-code (priority purchase right) for Xiaomi Car SU7 had been listed on a certain second-hand e-commerce platform, with prices soaring to fifty thousand CNY. On March 29th, Xianyu also launched the "Old Car Disposal, SU7 Beckoning" channel in the used car section, providing a platform for more Mi fans to share and exchange old cars for new ones. On social media, some netizens lamented that the secret to saving money is all on Xianyu; by trading in an old car, you can get a "Xiaomi SU7" for around tens of thousands of CNY.
At the same time, many consumers complained on consumer rights platforms that they couldn't get a refund for the 5000 CNY deposit for Xiaomi SU7. Some even formed a so-called "rights protection group".
Additionally, many people are concerned about Xiaomi's actual range, zero to sixty acceleration, and after-sales service. In response, Xiaomi posted an article on its official Xiaomi Car Weibo account addressing each concern.
Regarding the issue of deposit refunds, Xiaomi Cars stated that according to industry practice, there is usually a cooling-off period for confirmed orders, ranging from 1-3 days. During this period, orders can be canceled or modified. Once the configuration is confirmed and the order is locked, the vehicle enters production. Considering the huge demand for Xiaomi SU7 test drives, the cooling-off period has been extended to 7 days until April 30th.
Xiaomi further explained that users who cannot get a refund are those who actively chose to lock in their configurations. Once users choose to lock in their configurations, it means the order is confirmed, and the vehicle enters the production stage. Configurations cannot be modified again, and at this point, the deposit is non-refundable. "In the Xiaomi Car APP purchase process, there are three reminders about the inability to refund after locking in the configuration, and a direct pop-up reminder when finally locking in the configuration. We also hope everyone understands this and chooses carefully before locking in the configuration."
Furthermore, after locking in the order, the purchaser cannot modify it, and the benefits are tied to the car, not the order. As of 12 p.m. on March 29th, the Xiaomi Car customer service system received a total of 469 requests for order cancellations and modifications.
As for delivery times, reporters also learned that the Xiaomi SU7 Founder's Edition will start delivery as early as April 3rd. Non-Founder's Edition Xiaomi SU7 and Xiaomi SU7 Max will start delivery at the end of April, and Xiaomi SU7 Pro will start delivery at the end of May. Specific delivery times can be referred to the estimated delivery period when selecting options in the APP.
Regarding concerns about production capacity, Xiaomi revealed that confirmed orders are continuing to soar, and the factory is working at full capacity to increase production. The supply chain partners are also fully mobilized to ensure supply. Different models, configurations, colors, etc., will have different delivery times.
Regarding the concern about too few delivery centers, Xiaomi stated that it has selected the following 10 cities to supplement the construction of sales and service stores: Jinan, Shandong; Changzhou, Jiangsu; Nantong, Jiangsu; Jinhua, Zhejiang; Nanning, Guangxi; Changchun, Jilin; Guiyang, Guizhou; Zhuhai, Guangdong; Quanzhou, Fujian; and Xiantao, Hubei. These 10 cities will gradually open for business within this year. At the press conference, Lei Jun emphasized the "long range" characteristic of Xiaomi SU7, along with its 2.78-second zero-to-sixty capability.
On the first day of listing, Autohome retested the actual range of Xiaomi SU7: in continuous high-speed scenarios, the Xiaomi SU7 Max with CLTC cycle has a range of 810 km, but its actual range reached 643 km (the media test showed 0 on the battery gauge, but it could actually continue driving for more than 10 km), with an actual range retention rate of nearly 80%.
During the live broadcast, the Xiaomi SU7 Max Edition clocked in at 3.24 seconds in the 0-100 kilometer acceleration test. In comparison, the similarly graded NIO ET5 takes 3.83 seconds to reach 100 kilometers per hour, while the Tesla Model 3 Long Range Dual Motor variant requires 4.62 seconds.
In terms of braking system performance, the Xiaomi SU7 maintains a minimal braking distance of 33.3 meters when decelerating from 100 to 0 kilometers per hour. In the vehicle's ACC comparative testing, the Xiaomi SU7 achieves a maximum pass-through speed of 120 km/h when driving statically, with no alarms triggered, and the ACC autonomously brings the vehicle to a stop.
With a foresight of three years, Xiaomi provides car loan services through Xiaomi Finance.
It's worth noting that according to staff at the Xiaomi Automotive Hangzhou Dayuecheng store, purchasing a car now allows for either full payment or installment payments.
Financial journalists from Caijing learned from Xiaomi's official sources that Xiaomi Automotive Financial Services is the official financial services brand of Xiaomi Automotive, and current collaborating institutions include Construction Bank, China Merchants Bank, Ping An Bank, and CITIC Bank.
Currently, Xiaomi Auto Financial Services offers three down payment options: 15%, 33%, and 50%. The repayment terms include 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months, all with an annual interest rate of 2.5%.
At a Beijing dealership, automotive sales representatives on-site also calculated the financial plan for the Xiaomi SU7, offering a down payment of 32,000 RMB and a monthly installment of less than 3,500 RMB.
Taking the Xiaomi SU7 standard version as an example, with a 15% down payment and a 12-month repayment period, the down payment is 32,385 RMB, the loan amount is 183,515 RMB, and the monthly installment is 1,674.89 RMB. Extending the repayment period to 60 months results in a monthly installment of 3,440.23 RMB.
However, despite the calculations being based on the annual interest rate of 2.5%, under the equal principal and interest repayment method, the actual annual interest rates for the aforementioned 12-month and 60-month plans are 4.58% and over 4.73%, respectively.
The corresponding page also reminds that the results from the financial calculator are for reference only and do not serve as valid documents for purchasing or loan applications.
As early as November 2021, Xiaomi Vice President Lin Shiwei stated in an interview that Xiaomi would expand into the automotive finance industry, which would be a significant business segment for the group in the future, including automotive finance, insurance, automotive supply chain finance, in-car payments, and other scenarios.
As of now, Xiaomi Group's financial services include consumer finance, microloans, credit reporting, third-party payments, insurance, factoring, leasing, and financing guarantees, but it does not have a direct automotive finance license.
Industry insiders suggest that, similar to companies like NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto, Xiaomi may engage in automotive finance business leveraging its leasing license.
According to Tianyancha, Xiaomi owns Shanghai Xiaomi Leasing Co., Ltd., established in November 2018 with a registered capital of 30 million USD, wholly owned by Xiaomi Finance (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., with the legal representative being Yue Kai, the current Chairman of Xiaomi Consumer Finance and President of Tianxing Shuke.
Recent developments show that on March 22nd, the Chongqing Regulatory Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission approved Cao Ziwei as the President of Chongqing Xiaomi Consumer Finance, marking the third president of Xiaomi Consumer Finance. Earlier, Chongqing Xiaomi Microfinance Co., Ltd. had its license revoked, completely divesting Xiaomi's financial brand Tianxing Shuke from the microloan business.
Recently, several job postings indicate that Xiaomi has launched positions such as Automotive Installment Technology Product Manager and Supply Chain Finance Product Manager.
The role of a Product Manager for automotive installment technology requires candidates to have experience in financial products, fundamental product design thinking, capabilities in data analysis and value discovery, as well as a solid track record of leading a core business area. Familiarity with system development processes is necessary. The primary responsibilities include gaining insights into Xiaomi's car sales model, understanding installment finance business scenarios, designing effective installment product structures, overseeing the implementation of Xiaomi's car installment system, optimizing user experience, and driving business growth.
