Fifteen months later, Lei’s bet now seems like it might pay off. At a Tuesday event in Beijing, the Xiaomi CEO suggested that the company’s EV business could be profitable by the second half of the year. A Xiaomi spokesperson confirmed the comments to Fortune.
On Sunday, People’s Daily, a state newspaper, warned that “rat-race competition” could harm supply chain security and damage the reputation of Chinese goods, though did not name specific companies.
Xiaomi has reported strong sales of its SU7 EV, delivering almost 76,000 cars in the first quarter of the year. The firm has delivered more than 258,000 cars so far since it formally launched its first EV in March 2024.
Still, EVs are an expensive proposition for Xiaomi. The company reported a 500 million yuan ($69.4 million) loss for its EV unit in Q1 2025, smaller than the 700 million yuan posted for the preceding quarter.
Xiaomi debuted its second EV model, the YU7 sports utility vehicle, in May, with an expected launch in July.
Lei hopes that Xiaomi’s EVs will compete in the premium segment of the market, pitting his cars against local firms like Nio and Xpeng and foreign carmakers like Tesla.
Customers have also blasted the design of some SU7 models, complaining that Xiaomi had overstated some design features.
Xiaomi first became famous for its smartphones, and has since expanded into home appliances.
