Xiaomi’s entry and subsequent expansion into the automotive world has been a revelation. Less than two years ago it wasn’t even building a single production car; now, it’s manufacturing the hugely popular SU7 sedan and YU7 SUV, both of which have received praise from both owners and reviewers. And come 2027, it won’t just be competing in China.

The company has been eyeing off an international expansion for quite some time, but has remained coy about which markets it would like to enter. However, while recently speaking on an earnings call, Xiaomi president Lu Weibing said the carmaker first plans to enter the European market by 2027 and go head- to-head with the likes of BYD and Tesla.

Read: Xiaomi’s Massive Waitlist Has CEO Suggesting Tesla to Frustrated Buyers

Xiaomi’s automotive push has been fueled by strong momentum at its home market. In the second quarter of 2025 alone, it delivered 81,302 vehicles, H1 total to 157,000. With production of the YU7 accelerating, deliveries are expected to increase, although some customers are already facing waits of more than a year.

Balancing Growth and Losses

Despite rapid sales, the technology giant’s automotive venture lost about 300 million yuan ($41 million) in the latest quarter. Still, co-founder Lei Jun recently said Xiaomi’s carmaking division will become profitable in the second half of 2025, reports Bloomberg.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that Xiaomi is recruiting personnel to work at a new European research and development center. Noteworthy hires include Rudolf Dittrich, who has previously worked at BMW, as well as the Williams and Sauber Formula 1 teams, while former BMW employees include Dusan Sarac and engineer Jannis Hellwig.

What Europe Might See First

It remains to be seen which Xiaomi model will be the first to launch in the Old Continent, but the firm likely hopes to sell both the SU7 and YU7 in the region. It is also hard at work on a third model, currently known as the YU9. This will take the form of a large SUV and will be an EREV with a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine and two electric motors.

Xiaomi’s latest high-performance electric sedan has been busy making history and smoke. The SU7 Ultra is now the fastest production EV to lap the Nurburgring Nordschleife, and while that achievement alone would be enough to cement its credentials, it turns out the car can dance as well as it can sprint.

In a display that might surprise those who associate all-wheel drive with understeer, a specially prepared SU7 Ultra takes center stage in a Ken Block–style Gymkhana video that could win over even the most skeptical EV enthusiasts.

Filmed on the Chinese island of Qionghai, the clip shows a bright yellow SU7 Ultra performing loads of impressive powerslides. Aiding in the car’s drifting prowess is the fitment of a hydraulic handbrake, allowing the driver to quickly lock up the rear wheels and kick out the EV’s tail.

Read: Xiaomi’s SU7 Ultra Software Upgrade Was A 650-HP Downgrade

Just like the finest of Ken Block’s Gymkhana videos, the SU7 Ultra is filmed sliding mere inches away from curbs and clipping obstacles with pinpoint precision. Behind the wheel of the EV was Formula Drift competitor Ye Zhicheng, and the production quality is just as good as anything we’ve seen from the team over at Hoonigan, who produced Block’s most famous videos.

Perhaps the most impressive stunt comes roughly halfway through the video, where the SU7 Ultra performs a figure-of-8 drift between two moving limousines. As the car pumps out a remarkable 1,526 hp, it should come as no surprise that it generates more than enough tire smoke to make the Block family proud.

Towards the end of the video, the SU7 Ultra joins up with an engine-swapped Toyota 86 to drift up a mountain road. Before long, the 86 is shown overheating, but the Xiaomi is able to continue. Xiaomi itself was so impressed with the video that company boss Lei Jun reportedly shared it on social media.

Ferrari has promised to reveal its first ever EV next spring, having given us a look at the Elettrica’s (name still tentative) electric heart at the back end of this year. It’s uncharted land for the Italian supercar brand so it appears to be checking its work against a Chinese car that’s already wowed the world with its performance.

Related: Xiaomi Shatters Its Nurburgring Record Again And Immediately Launches Limited Edition

That car is a Xiaomi SU7 Ultra sedan, which was spotted coming out of the gates of Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters in Italy, its yellow paint and dual silver stripes – the same combo used in most of Xiaomi’s marketing pics – making it difficult to miss.

An Unexpected Visitor at Maranello

Ferrari, like every other brand, is constantly buying and borrowing cars from rival automakers for research purposes. But even five years ago the idea of the world’s most famous sports car company thinking a Chinese car was worth investigating would have been laughable.

Plenty has changed in those five years. The SU7 Ultra is currently the fastest electric production car around the Nurburgring, its 7:04.957 time improving on the Porsche Taycan’s by almost three seconds. And separately, an Ultra prototype has recorded an unholy 6:22.091, putting it ahead of everything except VW’s ID.R racer and Porsche’s 919 Evo Le Mans weapon.

The SU7’s Taycan-like coupe-sedan bodywork hides a triple-motor electric drivetrain that makes 1,526 hp (1,547 PS / 1,138 kW), sends it to 62 mph (100 kmh) in 1.98 sec and delivers a 223 mph (359 kmh) top speed.

Ferrari already knows how to make cars handle, so it seems possible that its focus of interest would be the electric platform and things like thermal management during sustained fast driving. And we also know that Xiaomi’s CEO shares an equal interest in Ferrari’s products. Lei Jun was spotted last year driving a red Purosangue, and we’re sure he’ll be keen to get his hands on Maranello’s EV when deliveries begin in fall 2026.

Company insiders have suggested the Italian brand’s first EV will be a limited production car to get people used to the idea of an engine-less car with a horse on the hood, and that it’s the second EV, which will take on an crossover-like form, that will be more significant. But Ferrari has delayed that car until 2028 due to weak demand in the luxury EV space, Reuters reported last month.

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H/t to CarNewsChina

Xiaomi clearly isn’t content with simply being one of the fastest cars to ever lap the Nurburgring. It just went and made that record even faster. Less than a year after securing a top-five finish for its prototype and taking the number one spot for production electric cars, the company returned for another round. This time, not only did the team succeed, but they shaved nearly 24 seconds off their previous time at the hands of driver David Pittard.

Read: Xiaomi SUV’s Tesla-Beating Pricing Sparks Frenzy With 289,000 Orders In An Hour

For reference, that record was 6:46.87 for the SU7 Ultra prototype. If you’re scratching your head a bit, don’t worry; it’s not just you. Xiaomi has been setting separate record times for both the prototype SU7 and the production version of the same car, which can certainly make things a little tricky to follow.

The production car arguably has an even more impressive record, despite going slower (7:04.957) because it’s the sole leader in the production EV category. To achieve that, it beat the Porsche Taycan and none other than the Rimac Nevera. Yes, the bonkers hypercar was slower than this four-door Chinese sedan. All of that said, this new prototype record is no joke.

The New Record: 6:22.091

The not-for-sale stripped-down SU7 Ultra managed a 6:22.091 lap. That usurps the Lotus Evija X prototype that did it in 6:24.04. Now, the SU7 Ultra sits in third place, and that’ll likely be where it stays. Bumping the second-place finisher, the VW ID.R down would mean going faster than 6:05.33. First place is out of reach for just about everyone. That’s the record set by Timo Bernhard of 5:19:546.

Special Editions: Track Package and Nurburgring Edition

Still, Xiaomi’s performance here is deserving of praise, provided everything is above board. That said, the brand is celebrating the new record with two new special editions. The first, simply called the Track Package, will cost 100,000 yuan (approximately US$13,950 at current exchange rates). It adds a track-grade high-power battery pack, upgraded cooling, optimized brakes, Nurburgring-tuned suspension components, and a top speed of 217 mph (350 km/h).

An even more exclusive version is on the way, dubbed the Nürburgring edition. This special model comes with unique underbody panels, a new roll cage replacing the rear seats, and aerodynamic tweaks on the exterior to set it apart from the rest of the SU7 lineup.

Priced at 814,900 yuan in China (around $114,000), Xiaomi will produce just 10 examples for 2025, with total production capped at 100 to “ensure exclusivity.” Sure, that’s a hefty sum no matter where you are, but the level of performance you’re getting in return is undeniably impressive.

Under the slinky Porsche-esque design, you’ll find three electric motors that make a combined 1,527 hp (1,138 kW) and 1,306 lb-ft (1,770 Nm) of torque. It’s one thing for a brand to claim that it’s capable of building fast cars and a very different thing to put hypercar makers on notice.

Credit: Nurburgring

Breaking speed records isn’t just reserved for hypercars these days. Xiaomi, better known for smartphones than for chasing lap times, caught out attention last year when a prototype of its SU7 electric sedan clocked a 6:46.874 at the Nurburgring. Now it’s back with something more official. The production version has secured the title of fastest electric vehicle at the Green Hell, posting a verified lap time of 7:04.957.

More: Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Smashes Taycan Turbo GT’s Lap Record At Shanghai Circuit

Despite being a full 18 seconds slower than the stripped-out prototype that came with more aggressive aero, the production Xiaomi SU7 Ultra was faster than the Rimac Nevera hypercar (7:05:298) and the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT (7:07:55).

Faster Than a Rimac. Yes, Really

While the new time is a full 18 seconds slower than the earlier prototype run, which featured stripped-out weight savings and more aggressive aerodynamics, the production SU7 Ultra still managed to outpace all the heavy hitters. It not only beat the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT’s time of 7:07.55, but also edged out the Rimac Nevera, which previously clocked a 7:05.298.

Xiaomi hasn’t confirmed who was behind the wheel for the Nurburgring run, but it did clarify that the car used was a production-spec model fitted with the optional track package.

CEO Lei Jun added that this won’t be the last we see of Xiaomi at the ‘Ring, suggesting the company is settling in for the long haul. To back it up, Xiaomi released an onboard video of the lap, which was also picked up by the official Nurburgring website and YouTube channel.

The video shows that the EV reaching 345 km/h (214 mph) on the long straight, just shy of its claimed top speed of 350 km/h (218 mph). Powering that performance is a tri-motor setup delivering a combined 1,527 hp (1,138 kW or 1,548 PS) and 1,306 lb-ft (1,770 Nm) of torque. That’s enough to send the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra from 0 to 100 km/h (0–62 mph) in just 1.89 seconds.

More: Xiaomi’s First SUV Looks Like A Ferrari But It’s Priced Like A Tesla

Interestingly, SU7 Ultra owners don’t get the full 1,527 hp right out of the box. By default, the car delivers around 888 hp (900 PS or 662 kW). To unlock the rest, drivers need to complete a qualifying lap on a Xiaomi-approved track. The car’s onboard Qualifying Mode logs and verifies the lap time, proving whether the driver can handle the extra power.

Hypercar Numbers, Mid-Range Price

Despite offering performance and specs that rival hypercars, the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra is surprisingly affordable. The performance flagship starts at ¥529,000 (about $73,600) in China, making it significantly less expensive than the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, which starts at ¥1,998,000 ($278,000) locally.

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