For a beaten-down European car industry, the news that Xiaomi Corp. is on its way must feel like a death knell.
The Chinese phone-maker’s first electric vehicle, the SU7 sedan, has been a hit in its home market. With the looks of a Porsche Panamera at the price of a Toyota Camry, it’s earned rave reviews from Jim Farley, chief executive officer of Ford Motor Co., and sells for as little as 215,900 yuan ($30,000). Xiaomi will start shipping the car to Europe from 2027, the company’s President Lu Weibing told investorsBloomberg Terminal last week, adding that fans in the UK and Germany are already importing models on the grey market. An SUV-styled companion, the YU7, is selling out in China.