Photo: sugardesign_1 / Instagram
Back in the old days, when Apple was the go-to smartphone vendor and Android-equipped devices struggled to catch up, one 'little' Chinese maker helped Google overcome the odds.
Not long ago, it was Apple or nothing – Samsung and others were just struggling to make a name for themselves and only then actually started to compete with the iPhone powerhouse. Things look completely different nowadays, even though Apple still has the lion's share – Android devices are veritable flagships in their own right.
In no small part, this situation is owed to established companies like Motorola or Samsung, but also thanks to start-up Chinese brands like Xiaomi, which showed that you can have affordable smartphones with 99% of the features and goodies of an expensive Apple iPhone. As such, it is no wonder that the roles have reversed when tech companies decided they wanted a piece of the iconic automotive industry.
Today, the Apple iCar (or whatever it was called) is dead and buried after eating through a whole chunk of dollars (10 billion greenbacks, allegedly enough to power a small country's economy), but the Xiaomi dream has come true – they have a car dubbed SU7. It's a battery-powered full-size sedan developed by Xiaomi Auto and produced under contract by BAIC Off-road in Beijing. It competes with the Tesla Model S for less than the price of a Tesla Model 3.
If it sounds too good to be true, it generally is – but we're still undecided if the reports of broken or bricked examples will be the undoing of this interesting endeavor. At the moment, many people believe that Xiaomi will succeed with its 'flagship killer' attitude, which has made it an incredible smartphone vendor in the complicated automotive industry.
Some people who feel confident about Xiaomi's automotive fortunes also dwell in the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. More precisely, Sugar Chow, the virtual artist better known as sugardesign_1 on social media, has decided to CGI present his vision for the potential expansion of the Xiaomi Auto family. As such, after delivering a logical design project like the 'SU8' crossover SUV, he also crossed into fantasy land with a tuned, widebody SU7 sedan and an SU7 Touring – aka a station wagon.
Looking more and more like a Porsche Taycan or a Hyundai Ioniq 6, his vision for the SU7 sedan with a lowered suspension and a full widebody aerodynamic kit is all black and menacing. If he lived in America, he would have called it the 'murdered-out' Xiaomi SU7 as nothing on the outside is anything but black, save for the orange brake calipers. Anyway, the widebody sedan has a companion – the SU7 Touring, a station wagon that's just as black – and can also be equipped with the widebody kit. How do you like the CGI pair?
In no small part, this situation is owed to established companies like Motorola or Samsung, but also thanks to start-up Chinese brands like Xiaomi, which showed that you can have affordable smartphones with 99% of the features and goodies of an expensive Apple iPhone. As such, it is no wonder that the roles have reversed when tech companies decided they wanted a piece of the iconic automotive industry.
Today, the Apple iCar (or whatever it was called) is dead and buried after eating through a whole chunk of dollars (10 billion greenbacks, allegedly enough to power a small country's economy), but the Xiaomi dream has come true – they have a car dubbed SU7. It's a battery-powered full-size sedan developed by Xiaomi Auto and produced under contract by BAIC Off-road in Beijing. It competes with the Tesla Model S for less than the price of a Tesla Model 3.
If it sounds too good to be true, it generally is – but we're still undecided if the reports of broken or bricked examples will be the undoing of this interesting endeavor. At the moment, many people believe that Xiaomi will succeed with its 'flagship killer' attitude, which has made it an incredible smartphone vendor in the complicated automotive industry.
Some people who feel confident about Xiaomi's automotive fortunes also dwell in the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. More precisely, Sugar Chow, the virtual artist better known as sugardesign_1 on social media, has decided to CGI present his vision for the potential expansion of the Xiaomi Auto family. As such, after delivering a logical design project like the 'SU8' crossover SUV, he also crossed into fantasy land with a tuned, widebody SU7 sedan and an SU7 Touring – aka a station wagon.
Looking more and more like a Porsche Taycan or a Hyundai Ioniq 6, his vision for the SU7 sedan with a lowered suspension and a full widebody aerodynamic kit is all black and menacing. If he lived in America, he would have called it the 'murdered-out' Xiaomi SU7 as nothing on the outside is anything but black, save for the orange brake calipers. Anyway, the widebody sedan has a companion – the SU7 Touring, a station wagon that's just as black – and can also be equipped with the widebody kit. How do you like the CGI pair?
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