Xiaomi hits 410,000 sales... then dismantles SUV to silence critics
Smartphone brand Xiaomi uses livestreamed SUV teardown to counter viral criticism and forecasts 500,000-plus sales in 2026The News
Xiaomi has revealed it delivered a whopping 410,000 vehicles in 2025 as founder, chairman and CEO Lei Jun fronted a marathon four-hour livestream to dismantle and defend the Xiaomi YU7 electric SUV amid intense online criticism in China.
The Key Details
• Xiaomi YU7 EV torn down live on camera by engineers
• Livestream aimed at countering viral videos and criticism
• Australian market launch tipped for later in the decade
• Xiaomi delivered 410,000 vehicles in 2025
• 2026 delivery target set at 550,000 units
The Finer Details
In early January 2026, Xiaomi's CEO Lei Jun did something most car companies would never dream of: he spent more than four hours livestreaming video of his engineers completely dismantling a production Xiaomi YU7 electric SUV.
Not a prototype. Not a show car. An actual production vehicle, pulled apart like a Christmas turkey.
Why? Because Chinese consumers have been absolutely savaging Xiaomi's second electric vehicle (EV), and Jun decided to address almost every criticism raised.
The broadcast aired on Weibo and Bilibili in China and was either a PR lesson in damage control or just an engineering flex, directly addressing viral criticism that had been circulating about the YU7.
Chinese tech giant Xiaomi currently only sells cars in China, with plans to expand globally from 2027 onwards (Australia is firmly on the export list), and the criticism levelled at the brand – despite glowing international reviews – struck a nerve with the CEO.
He addressed the claim that the YU7 could travel 1300 kilometres on a single charge by responding: “That's not what I said.”
With the patience of a man explaining gravity to a flat-earther, the Xiaomi boss explained he'd originally stated the YU7 could cover that distance with one intermediate charge.
Viral clips showing ‘200km/h instant braking’ that looked worrying were taken out of context, claimed Jun.
He explained that these videos originated from factory testing of the Rimac-slaying SU7 Ultra super sedan (a different vehicle) and had been selectively edited to look worse than they were.
The pièce de résistance was when Jun addressed videos showing wheels detaching during collisions, which understandably freaked people out.
Turns out, that's not a catastrophic failure – it's a deliberate safety feature designed to reduce cabin compression and better manage impact forces, according to the Xiaomi engineers.
The livestream initially ran with comments disabled (presumably to prevent the kind of coordinated trolling that would make a Reddit moderator weep) before opening to audience questions.
Jun repeatedly encouraged fact-based reviews and pushed back against comparisons between the mid-segment YU7 and luxury EVs costing significantly more.
The Road Ahead
Xiaomi's public teardown underscores just how seriously the company is taking its automotive expansion, particularly as it scales from 410,000 deliveries in 2025 to a targeted 550,000 in 2026.
For Australian buyers wondering when they'll see Xiaomi vehicles in local showrooms, don't hold your breath.
While timing hasn't been confirmed, deliveries Down Under are widely expected to be delayed until around 2028 as Xiaomi focuses on its domestic market and impending European rollout.
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