Elon Musk’s Tesla may easily sit atop the electric vehicle throne here in the U.S., but the company faces much bigger challenges in China — namely, more competition from China-based companies.
Now Musk’s car company faces a new challenge. One of China’s most popular smartphone manufacturers is preparing to enter the country’s electric car market.
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Xiaomi is entering the EV space
Xiaomi, best known for its Android smartphones, has recently applied for a license to sell EV cars in China, according to a new report from Android Authority. The company’s first EV car products, according to regulatory filings, are the Xiaomi SU7 series of cars, including the SU7 and SU7 Max electric vehicles.
Xiaomi’s new EV car
Credit: Weibo
While the document contains some details about the car’s top speed and weight, perhaps the most interesting feature is one that isn’t included in the app: HyperOS, an operating system designed to connect users’ home, car and mobile devices.
Xiaomi has had a good few weeks lately sharing that its latest smartphone has sold over one million units in just two weeks in China. The company’s latest phone runs on Xiaomi’s new HyperOS operating system.
Xiaomi’s new EV car
Credit: Xiaomi
Tesla has had its ups and downs in China over the years. The company’s Model Y became the world’s best-selling EV earlier this year, bolstered by tens of thousands of sales in China, which also made it the country’s best-selling car for first quarter. However, China-based BYD remains strong in the country and remains the best-selling EV maker when sales of all its top models are taken into account. Just last month, Tesla’s popularity fell year-over-year in China, taking a reported 11% year-over-year decline.
As Xiaomi plans to enter the automotive market, along with a fully integrated operating system between its EVs — and its massively popular smartphones, which many in China will already own — consumers may be looking to the China-based company instead of Musk’s.
Considering the already fierce competition from other electric car manufacturers such as BYD and Tesla, they will certainly face new challenges in China.
