Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi’s (OTC:XIACF) first EV — the SU7 — outsold American EV giant Tesla Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model 3 sedan in China in December.

What Happened: Xiaomi chairman Lei Jun noted the achievement in a post on the social media platform Weibo.

While 25,815 Xiaomi SU7 vehicles were sold in December, only 21,046 Model 3s were sold. The best-selling EV in the month, however, was BYD Co.’s Seagull, of which the company sold 48,754 units.

Xiaomi launched its first EV — the SU7 sedan — in late March and started delivering the vehicles in April.

The SU7 is available in three variants, namely Standard, Pro, and Max with the lower-end variant starting at 215,900 yuan ($29,500), lower than Tesla’s cheapest offering — the Model 3 — in China.

Why It Matters: Tesla hiked the price of the Model 3 in China earlier this month by 3,600 yuan. The vehicle now starts at 235,500 yuan in the country with the higher-end Performance variant priced at 339,500 yuan.

Tesla also launched a refreshed Model Y in China this month. The refreshed vehicle starts at 263,500 yuan on Tesla’s website, nearly 5.4% pricier than the older version of the vehicle which started at 249,900 yuan. 

China is an important market for Tesla. In 2024, the company reportedly sold around 657,000 vehicles in China, marking a growth of 8.8% year-on-year, even while its global annual deliveries fell as compared to 2023.

Tesla reported global deliveries of 1.79 million vehicles in 2024, down from full-year deliveries of 1.81 million in 2023, marking the first decline in over a decade.

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