(Yicai) Feb. 28 -- Chinese tech giant Xiaomi has launched the luxury edition of its electric sedan and its new flagship smartphone, pricing both below initial expectations.

Xiaomi unveiled the SU7 Ultra and the 15 Ultra at a launch event in Beijing yesterday evening. They are the most premium products Xiaomi has released since being set up almost 15 years ago, according to founder Lei Jun, who is also chairman and chief executive.

Xiaomi priced the vehicle’s standard version at CNY529,900 (USD72,780), which is 35 percent below what it was set at in October. Orders exceeded 10,000 within two hours of the car going on sale yesterday, Xiaomi said this morning.

The Beijing-based company is giving buyers a 168-hour cooling-off period in which to cancel, if they so choose, Lei said.

The SU7 Ultra boasts a maximum horsepower of 1,548PS and is designed to achieve a top speed of 350 kilometers per hour. It set the fastest lap time for a mass-produced EV at the Shanghai International Circuit earlier this month, pushing aside the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT.

Lei previously said that from a profit-and-loss perspective, the 15 Ultra would need to increase in price because of rising costs for research, development, and parts. But Lu Weibing, president of Xiaomi's mobile phone division, said yesterday that it had decided not to raise the price in the hope of gaining consumer support. The handset starts from CNY6,499 (USD892).

The 15 Ultra is equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, offers a maximum of 16 gigabytes of random access memory, features a 200-megapixel periscope telephoto camera for better zooming, and supports direct satellite data communication, enabling off-grid calls.

Amid a steep selloff in Chinese stock markets today, Xiaomi’s shares [HKG: 1810] ended 2.5 percent lower at HKD51.85 (USD6.67) each in Hong Kong, after reaching a historic high of HKD58.70 yesterday. The stock has gained 50 percent since the end of last year.

Editor: Emmi Laine

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