Tesla Model 3 got outsold by an EV from a Chinese smartphone brand
The Xiaomi SU7, built by a company best known for phones, has overtaken Tesla’s Model 3 in China, signaling rising local rivals, shifting consumer tastes, and fresh competition for the global EV leader.
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
In what is one of the most important developments in the Chinese auto industry, Xiaomi’s SU7 has outsold Tesla’s Model 3 in 2025. The information comes from the China Passenger Car Association (via scmp.com).
The Chinese smartphone maker delivered 258,164 units of its first EV. Meanwhile, Tesla sold only 200,361 Model 3s, marking the first time since Tesla’s Chinese launch that another brand has overtaken it in the world’s largest EV market.
Xiaomi’s formula for success
There are quite a few reasons behind this. First, Xiaomi has undercut the Model 3’s pricing by around 9% (CNY 235,500 vs. CNY 215,900 for the baseline variant). The SU7’s baseline variant offers a 700 km CLTC range, which is higher than the Model 3’s 606 km.
Further, the integration of HyperOS, free driver-assistance features, its smartphone ecosystem, and the ability to rapidly scale up production to meet the rising demand among Chinese buyers could be among the few reasons behind the major market shift.
To give you some perspective, Tesla’s Model 3 has been one of the most popular EVs of all time. For years, it has been a benchmark against which other EVs are evaluated; it has also helped kickstart mainstream EV adoption.
In China, the Model 3 has held the premium electric sedan crown since it arrived in 2019, despite attempts by multiple local EV startups to launch models with aggressive pricing, flashy features, and more frequent refreshes than Tesla.
However, Xiaomi seems to have cracked the Chinese EV market. A brand known primarily for budget smartphones and Android flagships has built something that local buyers not only appreciate but also adopt, and all of that has happened after the SU7’s Chinese launch in April 2024.
Xiaomi’s success is a major win for Chinese automakers. It proves that local brands can compete with the American giants on both quality and scale, not just price. For Tesla, it’s a sign to up its EV game in its biggest market. In the future, Xiaomi could launch new EVs to take on other popular Tesla models.
For more than five years, Shikhar has consistently simplified developments in the field of consumer tech and presented them…
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