Xiaomi to consider selling cars outside China from 2027

BEIJING: China's Xiaomi will only consider selling cars outside China from 2027, Lei Jun, CEO of the smartphone turned electric vehicle maker, said during a livestream.

The company has to focus on its domestic market in the meantime given robust orders for its SU7 and YU7 cars, he said.

Xiaomi had earlier mentioned 2027 as the first year for potential overseas shipments of its EVs.

The electric SU7 sedan has outsold Tesla's Model 3 on a monthly basis since December and the YU7 sports utility vehicle received robust orders in the first 18 hours after it went on sale last Thursday.

Xiaomi was telling YU7 customers that they will have to wait more than a year to pick up their cars, sparking a fresh wave of complaints against the company, Reuters reported.

Many commentators asked about the long waiting times and production ramp-up during the livestream, but Lei offered no clues.

"We'll strive to ramp up capacity," Lei said, without elaborating.