Buyers of Xiaomi YU7 electric cars face over a year-long delivery wait: this caused complaints
Kyiv • UNN
Buyers of the new Xiaomi SU7 electric car have faced a waiting period of up to one year, leading to complaints. Customers made a non-refundable deposit of 5,000 yuan, but were only informed of the long wait after confirming the order.
Chinese company Xiaomi told buyers of its new YU7 electric car that they will have to wait over a year to get their vehicles, which caused a new wave of complaints against the company, UNN reports with reference to Reuters.
Details
The smartphone maker turned EV manufacturer said it had received about 240,000 orders for the YU7 in the first 18 hours after the car went on sale on Thursday evening, but only a small number of cars were available for immediate delivery.
By Tuesday, the Xiaomi app showed that buyers had to wait 38 to 60 weeks, according to Reuters checks.
Since Friday, more than 400 buyers have filed complaints on the Sina Black Cat consumer complaint platform, saying they were not warned about the long wait and demanded a refund, according to a Reuters review of platform records.
Buyers had to make a non-refundable deposit of 5,000 yuan ($697.97) to place an order.
They said the official app only showed the expected waiting time for the car after confirming the order. They also expressed concern about whether a longer wait would mean they would have to pay more, as EV tax breaks expire at the end of this year.
Xiaomi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Its charismatic CEO Lei Jun said on his Weibo account, where he has 26.8 million followers, that he would answer some questions arising after the YU7's launch during a live broadcast on Wednesday.
Xiaomi vs. Tesla
Xiaomi made a huge splash in the Chinese EV market with the release of its first car, the SU7 sedan, last March. Although early SU7 buyers initially faced a wait of up to 7 months, since December the company has been outselling Tesla's Model 3 in China every month.
The company faced consumer backlash after a fatal accident involving an SU7 in March. It also faced complaints about confusion regarding the car's delivery times, as well as additional features.
The YU7 is Xiaomi's second model, priced from 253,500 yuan ($35,360), almost 4% less than Tesla's Model Y, which is currently the most popular SUV in China. Lei has openly spoken about how Xiaomi wants to challenge Tesla's Model Y in the race for first place.
Addition
Xiaomi is ramping up production at its Beijing factory and plans to build new factories on two nearby plots of land. Monthly production increased to 28,000 units in May from 4,000 units last March.