The Tesla Model Y was the best-selling car in China last year, selling 480,309 units. Unlike the Model 3 sedan, Y SUV sales held well against China’s EV competition. However, despite launching an updated version in January this year, sales are down 24% so far this year, and more competition is rising.
Four Chinese SUVs will be launched in the next four weeks to compete with the US automaker’s SUV. Starting this week, on June 26, the most serious Model Y challenger will hit the Chinese market—the Xiaomi YU7. Lei Jun, Xiaomi CEO, is not holding back and publicly compares the YU7 with Model Y, claiming it has much better specs.
YU7 is nearly 5 meters long, with a 3-meter wheelbase and a 2,315 kg curb weight. It will have a 760 km CLTC range and up to 508 kW motor power. It will feature 800V charging, and Xiaomi claims it can do 10% to 80% SoC in 12 minutes. The price is expected to be around 250,000 yuan (34,900 USD).
The Xiaomi YU7 SUV is Xiaomi’s second model after the SU7 sedan, which launched in March 2024. Lei Jun revealed in January this year that SU7 took nine months to outsell Model 3 in China.
In 2025, the SU7 is clearly outselling Model 3 in China with 132,467 delivered units (January – May) compared with Model 3’s 75,283 units.
Another serious competitor to Model Y comes from Volkswagen-backed Xpeng. The G7 SUV will launch in the first week of July, Xpeng announced without specifying the date.
G7 started pre-orders on June 11 and received 10,000 reservations in 46 minutes. The presale price was 235,800 yuan (32,500 USD), but it is common for Chinese automakers to lower the final price upon launch.
The Xpeng G7 is a mid-to-large SUV with 4892/1925/1655 mm dimensions and a wheelbase of 2,890 mm.
The Xpeng G7 is currently RWD-only and has a single electric motor that produces 218 kW (292 hp). It can be powered by two CALB-made LFP battery options: 68.5 kWh and 80.8 kWh. The CLTC range lies between 602 km and 702 km on 18-inch wheels and 577 km or 677 km on 20-inch wheels.
Another competitor is Shanghai-based Nio. The company announced that the second car under its entry-level brand, Onvo, will launch early next month – onvo L90. According to Lei Xing, the launch will occur in the second week of July.
Onvo L90 is a large SUV with six or seven seats, and it will try to eat lunch of the upcoming 7-seater Model Y and other large SUVs from Li Auto or Huawei’s Aito, such as Li L9 or Aito M9.
Onvo currently sells a single car, the mid-to-large SUV L60, which launched in September last year. However, its sales are beyond expectations. According to the original goal, it was supposed to hit 20,000 monthly sales in March. In May, the company sold only 6,281 units. L60 starts at 206,900 yuan (28,850 USD) in China.
Finally, in the third week of July, Li Auto’s i8 all-electric SUV will launch in China. It will be company’s second all-eletric car, after Li Mega MPV launched in March 2024. The Beijing-based automaker focused only on EREVs until last year.
The i8 will be AWD and have two e-motors with a combined power of 400 kW (536 hp). It will also feature 5C charging and an NMC battery from CATL.
Interestingly, Lei Jun shared details about the launches of Xpeng G7, Onvo L90, and Li i8 on his Weibo and wished them luck and good sales. He didn’t wish Model Y any luck.
In China, Model Y starts at 263,500 yuan (36,740 USD) for the RWD version with a 62.5 kWh battery good for 593 km CLTC range. Tesla will reportedly launch a longer-wheelbase three-row version of the Model Y in Q4 2025 in China, with 6 or 7 seat options. Despite reclaiming the title for best-selling SUV for May, it sold 124,643 units in China in 2025 so far (Jan-May), down 24% from last year.
