After years of it seemingly being around the corner, the arrival of Chinese cars en masse in Europe is finally underway. Some of them are perfectly decent, others, frankly, are a bit rubbish, but very few of them, besides stuff like the MG Cyberster, actually interest us.
One car hailing from China that does is the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, a 1527bhp electric super saloon that’s been grabbing headlines for its exploits at various racetracks, most prominently the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Nürburgring Edition – front
There, the production spec version holds the outright production EV record, while a stripped-out prototype, powered by the same three-motor setup but featuring more aggressive aero and a crash diet, is the third-fastest thing ever to lap the fearsome track. Those feats have been marked with a celebratory stripped-out Nürburgring Edition.
So far, though, the SU7 Ultra’s been limited to the Chinese market. That, however, could change soon, as the company – which began as a smartphone maker and only started making cars around 18 months ago – has confirmed plans to expand into the European market in 2027, according to a report on its second-quarter earnings call from Bloomberg.
Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Nürburgring Edition – interior
That’ll almost certainly mean the rollout of both the standard SU7 saloon and new YU7 SUV here, and there’s no reason to think the Ultra won’t make it over too. Indeed, the car already has some European connections, with storied British motorsport outfit Prodrive helping develop the stripped-out prototype.
Should it launch here, it’ll be entering a hotting-up market for ultra high-performance EV saloons, with both BMW’s first electric M car and Mercedes’ AMG-exclusive EV also due to arrive in the next few years.
Xiaomi SU7 Ultra – front
There are a couple of possible caveats, though. Firstly, ‘Europe’ doesn’t necessarily mean the UK, and there are several Chinese brands like Nio that currently sell cars on the continent but not here. Secondly, we imagine that if the SU7 Ultra does go on sale in Europe, it’ll cost significantly more than the roughly £55,000 it goes for in its home market.
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