Master marketer

But the excitement around the project would not have been possible without Lei, a marketing master who knows full well the power of social media.

Lei has verbal skills rarely displayed by other high-profile business leaders in China. Both Zhou Hongyi, CEO of network security company 360, and Liu Qiangdong, founder and chairman of online shopping giant JD, admit they cannot rival Lei when it comes to delivering a message.

In one of his videos posted on Sina Weibo ahead of the model's launch, Lei showcases the plant's paint workshop, saying: "Isn't it beautiful, our mirror-like paint finish?"

Such videos usually have millions of views on Sina Weibo, where Lei has more than 20 million followers.

Getting a thumbs-up for the post has little to do with the actual painting process, but the video is clever enough to allow potential buyers the rare opportunity of seeing inside a paint workshop.

Such good impressions give Xiaomi an advantage over its rivals when it comes to potential car buyers.

The SU7's features, coupled with Lei's marketing skills, have driven strong early demand for the model. Xiaomi said it received over 88,000 orders with a deposit of 5,000 yuan, within 24 hours of the launch.

In late April, Lei said at the company's shareholder meeting that the model's fully paid orders numbered over 70,000, and the company's goal is to deliver 100,000 units this year. In the first full sales month of April, 7,058 units were delivered. It was a decent number, allowing Xiaomi to outperform electric vehicle makers Avatr and Voyah, both of which were established in 2018.

Xiaomi's sales fell just 2,300 units short of competitor Xpeng's deliveries in April. Known for its edge in smart driving, Xpeng has six models in the market and has been chosen by Volkswagen to codevelop vehicles.