While most attention were on the anticipated reveal of the Tesla Model Y “Juniper”, and rightfully so, Xiaomi’s first fully electric sedan, the SU7, has quietly surpassed the Tesla Model 3 in sales since the beginning of December 2024.

In fact, since the beginning of January, the SU7 has outsold the Model 3 at a 3:1 ratio (15,600 vs 5,200 units).

Moreover, since week 49 (Dec. 2-8), Xiaomi SU7 beat Tesla Model 3 deliveries by roughly 300 units and that gap has significantly widened.

In the last week of December, the SU7 delivered 6,700 units compared to 3,500 Model 3, a gap of 3,200 units.

Through the first three weeks of January, that gap further increased to roughly 3,500 units weekly.

Tesla’s sloppy start of the year may also be due to Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory prioritizing trial production of the new Model Y ahead of launch.

According to local reports, the Model 3 production area will be shut down from January 26 to February 3 for Chinese New Year.

The Xiaomi SU7 first started deliveries in April 2024, delivering 7,058 units and later exceeded the 10,000 monthly mark by the 3rd month, the 20,000 mark by the 7th month, and the 25,000 mark by 9th month.

This level of ramp up reflects the booming popularity of the SU7, which sold nearly 140,000 units in 2024, despite starting delivery in April.

On a cumulative basis in 2024, Tesla Model 3 sold over 176,000 units, roughly 37,000 more than the SU7.

The SU7 won the 2024 Weibo Car of the Year in China, determined by a combination of public voting and expert evaluations.

On December 24, 2024, Xiaomi SU7 was also crowned as the 2024 Car of the Year award from ByteDance’s auto information platform.

Even Ford’s CEO Jim Farley has been driving the SU7 to analyze the competition: “I don't like talking about the competition so much, but I drive a Xiaomi," he said.

"We flew one from Shanghai to Chicago, and I've been driving it for six months now, and I don't want to give it up."

Xiaomi recently unveiled its upcoming SUV model, the YU7, which is expected to be the strongest competition to the Model Y since its inception.