Xiaomi ramps up car production after strong Q1 financial performance

Xiaomi Corp targets a total delivery of 120,000 electric vehicles in 2024, up from the initial goal of 100,000 after the Beijing-based company reported a stronger-than-expected first-quarter revenue on the back of robust smartphone sales.

Lu Weibing, president of Xiaomi, said on an earnings call that the company will start double-shift production from next month to ensure monthly deliveries exceed 10,000 units.

According to him, the demand for the SU7 has been strong, with cumulative locked-in orders reaching 88,063 vehicles as of the end of last month.

Xiaomi said on Thursday that for the first three months of this year, Xiaomi's revenue grew 27 percent year-over-year to 75.5 billion yuan ($10.42 billion), compared with the 73.3 billion yuan estimated by analysts according to LSEG.

Adjusted net income was 6.49 billion yuan, beating the 4.94 billion yuan estimated by analysts.

The strong performance came amid a steady recovery of the global smartphone market.

Xiaomi's global smartphone shipments rose 33 percent to 40.7 million units in the first quarter, helping the company capture a 14 percent market share and placing it in the No. 3 position, according to industry research firm Canalys.

In the realm of smart driving, Xiaomi's team now exceeds 1,000 members, with plans to expand to 1,500 by 2024 and further to 2,000 by 2025. Xiaomi's smart assisted driving will launch in ten Chinese cities by the end of May and will be available nationwide by August, Lu said.

Lu expressed optimism about the support from core suppliers in scaling up production, ensuring that actual delivery times are ahead of the scheduled dates on its app, and he added that Xiaomi plans to establish a robust sales and service network by the end of 2024, with 219 sales stores across 46 cities and 143 service centers covering 86 cities.