Xiaomi has hired Kong Yanshuang (孔雁爽), who led Tesla’s China sales organisation, and put him in charge of automobile sales operations.

A Jiemian report cited by EV outlet Electrek on Tuesday said Xiaomi has set a 2026 EV sales target of 550,000 units. Kong joined Xiaomi in early March and is currently undergoing a handover process. He joined as the successor to former Xiaomi auto division director Li Xiaorui.

Kong oversaw Tesla’s South China region, expanding retail and service hubs in Guangzhou and Shenzhen and leading expansion into lower-tier cities. In 2022 and 2023, he attended Shanghai Gigafactory milestone events and new-model launch briefings as head of Tesla’s China region. During a management reshuffle at Tesla in May 2024, he was put in charge of sales in the Shanghai region.

Former Tesla staff have continued to join Xiaomi’s auto organisation. A former Tesla employee, Eason, has also joined Xiaomi’s strategy unit and directly supports Chief Executive Lei Jun (레이쥔), and industry sources have also said several Tesla executives moved to Xiaomi in recent months.

Xiaomi delivered more than 410,000 vehicles in 2025, and cumulative deliveries topped 600,000 in February 2026. Former Tesla managers who joined after the end of 2025 are reshaping field operations based on their capabilities in process and data, and in managing personnel, inventories and stores.

Sales performance has also been clear. Xiaomi lifted sales with the revamped SU7, and the refreshed SU7 secured more than 15,000 orders within 34 minutes of launch, while confirmed orders exceeded 30,000. The next-generation SU7 is pitched with a 902 km driving range and a price of 229,900 yuan (about 50.7 million won). The YU7 SUV was tallied as having posted sales in China in January 2026 that exceeded Tesla’s Model Y.

Xiaomi also plans to launch four additional new models in 2026 beyond the SU7 and YU7. They are expected to include a premium SU7 model and 2 long-range SUVs. It is also expected to set 2027 as the timing for its first overseas expansion and pursue market expansion with Europe as a base.