Xiaomi has confirmed it has no plans to sell its electric vehicles (EVs) in the United States, despite one of its new YU7 electric SUVs being spotted driving on a U.S. interstate earlier this month.
The sighting sparked speculation that the Chinese tech giant could be preparing to expand into the world’s second-largest EV market, but the company’s founder has quickly shut down those rumours.
Lei Jun, Xiaomi’s founder, chairman, and CEO, addressed the reports directly, clarifying that any Xiaomi vehicle currently in the US was not part of an official expansion effort.
“We currently have no immediate plans to enter the US market. I suspect this YU7 was purchased by a US peer or supplier for benchmarking purposes,” Lei wrote on Weibo. (via CNEVPost)
The vehicle in question, identified as a Xiaomi YU7 Max and shared on the Chinese social media platform Rednote, was spotted travelling along Interstate 5 with Illinois license plates. Jun said the SUV was likely purchased by a rival automaker for benchmarking, a process that involves evaluating performance, efficiency, and technology to refine future vehicles.
Rivian appears to be the most likely candidate, as Illinois is home to the company’s primary manufacturing facility in Normal.
Xiaomi launched the YU7 in June 2025 as its first electric SUV, positioning it as a direct competitor to the Tesla Model Y. The vehicle quickly became a strong seller in China, with nearly 40,000 units delivered in December alone, contributing to more than 153,000 deliveries in its first year. Built on an 800-volt architecture, the YU7 Max offers a CLTC-rated range of up to 760 kilometres (472 miles) and can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.23 seconds.
While Xiaomi has ruled out a U.S. launch, the situation could be very different in Canada. The federal government recently revised its tariff structure on Chinese-made EVs, reducing the effective rate from 100% to just 6.1% under a quota-based system. This move could open the door for automakers like Xiaomi and others to enter the Canadian market for the first time.
