Among Tesla’s a lot of terrifying Chinese competitors has actually simply split the code to making money from EVs.
Smart device maker Xiaomi stated on Tuesday that its electrical car service had actually turned a quarterly earnings for the very first time, less than 2 years after introducing its very first automobile.
The Apple competitor’s EV, AI, and other brand-new efforts department reported a gross earnings of $98.5 million for the quarter ending in September.
Profits in the department struck a record high of $4 billion, with 28.3 billion yuan ($ 3.98 billion) originating from EV sales and 0.7 billion yuan ($ 98.5 million) from “associated companies.”
Striking success caps a meteoric increase for Xiaomi’s EV endeavor.
Like Western competing Apple, the Chinese tech giant invested billions in developing an electrical automobile to competing Tesla and BYD– however unlike Apple, Xiaomi in fact handled to deliver an EV, introducing the smooth SU7 sedan in March 2024.
The SU7 was a blockbuster, offering over 130,000 systems in 2015, and Xiaomi’s 2nd car, a Tesla Design Y rival called the YU7, accumulated 240,000 preorders in 24 hr when it released in June 2025.
Xiaomi has actually dealt with headwinds, with the business’s stock cost falling after a deadly crash including an SU7 previously this year, however sales have actually continued to grow. Xiaomi stated on Tuesday it had actually provided over 100,000 EVs in the 3rd quarter, up from around 40,000 over the exact same duration in 2015.
A hard roadway to success
Generating income from offering EVs is infamously tough. By reaching success in under 2 years, Xiaomi has actually signed up with the little list of business that have actually prevented the so-called “Valley of Death” that has actually declared numerous appealing EV start-ups.
Elon Musk’s Tesla reported its very first rewarding quarter in 2013, around ten years after the business’s structure and 5 years after Tesla started shipments of its very first car, the Roadster.
It took Tesla another 7 years to report a complete year of success, throughout which the business almost declared bankruptcy as it scaled up production of brand-new designs. Tesla reported $1.62 billion in running earnings in the most current quarter.
BYD, China’s biggest seller of EVs, has actually likewise been regularly rewarding. The Chinese car manufacturer reported $1.1 billion in earnings in the 3rd quarter and saw its profits eclipse Tesla’s for the very first time in 2015.
Nevertheless, BYD gain from offering both hybrids and pure battery-electric lorries, unlike Tesla and Xiaomi.
Other car manufacturers have actually struggled to generate income from developing electrical lorries. Detroit giants Ford and GM continue to lose billions on their EV companies, while start-ups Lucid and Rivian both reported losses of around $1 billion in the 3rd quarter.
Even in China, where electrical car adoption is far ahead of the United States, ruthless cost wars and ruthless competitors indicate that just a few business have actually handled to make a profit.
Xiaomi competing Nio reported a bottom line of almost $700 million in the 2nd quarter of 2025, while fellow EV start-up Xpeng is surrounding success after cutting its own loss to simply $50 million in the 3rd quarter.
Leapmotor, a Chinese EV start-up that has actually partnered with Jeep owner Stellantis, reported its 2nd straight quarterly earnings on Monday.
Source: Business Insider.
