Donald Trump He is against electric cars, even though he is a friend of Elon Musk. And even more so if they are Chinese electric cars. Even so, he is responsible for the most successful and mediatized launch of a Chinese electric carthat of the Xiaomi SU7.
In early 2021, then-President Trump made the decision to include the manufacturer Xiaomi on a list of entities that will be blocked by the United States. It was included on a blacklist of companies, due to its closeness to the Chinese military according to the Trump administration, in which American investors are prohibited from making investments.
With the US doors closed, I create an electric car to diversify the business
Xiaomi thus lost its American investors. This was the catalyst for the company’s decision to manufacture its first electric car, according to its CEO, Lei Jun.
Xiaomi, best known for its smartphones and home appliances, has finally entered the saturated Chinese electric vehicle market this year, as part of a strategy to diversify its product portfolio, with the acclaimed Xiaomi SU7.
“I got a call from a friend telling me that we had been sanctioned. It was like a bolt from the blue,” Lei said, adding that Xiaomi called an emergency meeting of its board of directors that same day. At the end of the meeting, it had been agreed to develop an electric car to counter the effects of Trump’s decision.
“Had it not been for the huge impact of the unexpected US sanctions, we would not have rushed into the complex automobile industry,” said Lei, who has become famous in China for his eye-catching live product presentations.
Xiaomi challenged the 2021 sanctions in federal court and successfully got the measure restricting U.S. investment overturned in May of that year. But by then, development of what would become the SU7, a electric sports saloon was already underway.
Unveiled last March, Xiaomi plans to deliver at least 100,000 units of the SU7 this yearwith an initial sales target of 120,000 units. The latest plans represent a significant increase from earlier this year, when the company initially set its first-year sales target at 76,000 vehicles while it determined its production capacity and was overwhelmed by reservations.
By the end of June, Xiaomi had delivered more than 25,000 cars and expected to reach target of 100,000 units in November, Lei said. “I have to thank the accident three years ago,” he said of the sanctions, which prompted the company to diversify amid fears they would hurt its smartphone business.
And although in the first few years Xiaomi will voluntarily limit itself exclusively to the Chinese market, its intention is to become one of the five most important manufacturers in the world.
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Source: www.motorpasion.com
