Xiaomi CEO disassembles three Tesla Model Y… out of sheer curiosity!
This page is translated from the original post "Le PDG de Xiaomi démonte trois Tesla Model Y… par simple curiosité !" in French.
- 29/09/2025 17:23
When entering the automotive market as a new player like Xiaomi, it makes sense to draw inspiration from the best.
Lei Jun, Xiaomi’s CEO, openly acknowledged this. His team purchased three Tesla Model Y and took them apart piece by piece, simply to see what they had inside. Nothing very glorious, certainly, but it remains a fun approach… and ultimately quite common in the industry.
The anecdote was shared during a major speech in Beijing. Lei Jun explained that these Model Y were meticulously analyzed, each component studied, to understand how Tesla designs one of its flagship models. The leader even mentioned that he considers the Model Y a “very good car”, going so far as to recommend his audience consider Tesla… if they weren’t buying a Xiaomi SU7. A small marketing spin, in the style of humorous boss.
A practice Xiaomi did not invent
But Xiaomi didn’t invent this. The automotive industry has always thrived on exchanging technical spies and mechanical curiosities. Ferrari recently welcomed a Xiaomi SU7 Ultra at Maranello to uncover its secrets, and there’s no doubt that Tesla itself has seen its cars dissected by Porsche, Mercedes, or BMW. Dismantling the competition is a long-standing habit in the field. Fairy tales even circulate about Ferrari and Porsche trading their new models out of politeness, knowing they will anyway be bought to uncover secrets. A story with no solid proof, but which illustrates well the aura of mystery and rivalry among manufacturers.
For Xiaomi, arriving in 2024 on the market with its first electric SUV, the exercise mainly allowed refining the interior of its YU7 model. Lei Jun claims that its cabin “largely compares” with Tesla’s. Whether customers will judge the same remains to be seen.
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The fact is that China is overflowing with new automakers, to the point of producing more vehicles than it can sell. In this context, Xiaomi is trying to find its place, particularly targeting Europe from 2027. After all, dismantling three Teslas to gain a bit of time isn’t very glorious… but that’s often how innovation begins.
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