The cost, the technology, and now the styling of the cars and branding of the companies: the latter stages in the development of Chinese car companies was on full show at the Beijing motor show, which ran this week for the first time since 2018. When the Chinese car companies cracked brands and branding, these were always going to be the things that could really take them global and into the mainstream, rather than simply known for cost.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a larger crowd around a car at a motor show than the Xiaomi SU7, so much so that I had to Google it to find out what it looked like without elbows sharp enough to get near it. The smartphone maker has done what Apple and Google have so far failed to do and launched a car, one its maker claims to have had 75,000 orders for already and plans to deliver the first 10,000 units in June, which it believes to be record for a start-up.