Secret to Chinese brand's success exposed! Xiaomi boss says the quiet part out loud with public admission of nut and bolt 2026 Tesla Model Y breakdown in development of new pure-electric SUV 

It’s one of those under the table automotive dark arts everyone knows is an industry norm but is rarely spoken about publicly.

But Xiaomi Founder and CEO Lei Jun hasn’t held back in describing his company’s detailed analysis of the Tesla Model Y during development of the brand’s YU7 EV SUV.

This week, while delivering his annual speech at the Beijing National Convention Centre, Mr Jun confirmed the Xiaomi engineering team had acquired not one but three Tesla Model Ys for the express purpose of disassembly and forensic analysis of every component. 

And it’s a safe bet the Model 3 underwent a similar breakdown process as part of the Xiaomi SU7 sedan’s production program.

Showing multiple side-by-side comparison slides of the YU7 and Model Y Mr Jun said, “We bought three Model Ys at the start of this year, disassembling the parts one by one, and studied every component, one at a time.”

And in the face of massive supply shortages resulting from a huge order backlog for the recently released YU7, Mr Lei was effusive in his praise for Tesla's top-selling model and encouraged prospective Xiaomi buyers to consider it. 

“If you don’t choose YU7, you can consider Model Y. I’m not criticizing the Model Y. The Model Y is a very, very outstanding car,” he said.

Within 18 hours of the YU7’s mid-year launch, Xiaomi said it had received around 240,000 orders, with the waiting list quickly pushing out to as much as 12 months. On social media Jun has also recommended the Xpeng G7 and Li Auto i8 as worthwhile YU7 alternatives. 

Already established as a large-scale global consumer electronics maker and software developer (it’s currently the world’s third-largest smartphone manufacturer), Xiaomi unveiled the single- and dual-motor SU7 EV sedan in 2024, with the YU7 SUV following this year.

The tri-motor SU7 Ultra, currently the fastest EV around the Nurburgring Nordschleife and claimed to accelerate from 0-100km/h in 2.0 seconds, was recently spotted exiting Ferrari’s Maranello HQ, sparking speculation it’s being benchmarked in the development of the Prancing Horse’s upcoming pure-electric model.

And a similarly focused version of the YU7, likely to be called YU7 GT, is expected soon, with a heavily camouflaged version of the car already spotted circulating on the famous German road circuit.