Lei Jun says Xiaomi pulled first‑gen SU7 early to avoid “betraying” owners

CEO frames early discontinuation as a user‑first decision

Lei Jun (雷军), founder, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi (小米), has explained why the company pulled the first‑generation SU7 from sale soon after launch: “I don't want to betray existing users.” The comment came in a Q&A video posted to his official Weibo account, where he was asked directly, “Why stop selling the first‑generation SU7 so early? Aren’t you worried about sales?” It has been reported that Lei acknowledged the move hurt the car’s performance in the first three months, but said the team prioritized owners’ experience over short‑term volume.

Two years of redesign and tough scrutiny

Lei described Xiaomi’s auto push as “跌宕起伏，冰火两重天” — dramatic highs and lows over the past two years — noting that while the company has achieved more than expected, it has also faced heavy criticism and intense public scrutiny. He said the SU7’s first generation set a high bar, and that the new model was the result of more than two years of design work and a “360‑degree, no dead‑angle scan” to improve on every detail. It has been reported that some media have rated the new SU7 as “9/10,” a compliment Lei thanked them for while also acknowledging the difficulty of surpassing the first generation, which reportedly became the best‑selling sedan in the above‑RMB200,000 segment.

Bigger picture: tech firms, EVs and geopolitical headwinds

Xiaomi joins a wave of Chinese internet and electronics companies moving into electric vehicles alongside incumbents such as BYD (比亚迪), Nio (蔚来) and XPeng (小鹏). For Western readers: these moves are part of China’s broader push to electrify transport and upgrade its manufacturing base, even as global supply‑chain stresses and geopolitical tensions — including export controls on advanced chips — complicate the sector. Lei’s message was pragmatic: carmaking “is a marathon,” and Xiaomi intends to take measured steps, listening to criticism and iterating until owners are satisfied.