Chinese Xiaomi plans to sell its cars in Europe, including Denmark. However, a violent fatal accident has caused the brand's stock to plummet.
Xiaomi's share price has plummeted after a fatal accident involving one of the brand's electric cars in China.
It has created negative attention around Xiaomi and the company's new electric car, the SU7. The tragic incident has already made headlines in the Chinese media.
Something that directly affects Xiaomi's stock. On Tuesday, the stock fell by a good five percent, and over two days it had fallen by around 10 percent.
The accident took place on Saturday, March 29, in Anhui Province outside Dezhou-Shangrao. A Xiaomi SU7 crashed into a highway barrier and subsequently burst into flames.
This is reported by Carnews China .
Three university students, all of whom were in the car, died. According to information circulating on social media in China, the car's doors could not be opened after the accident on the highway.
According to data released by Xiaomi, the car was traveling at 116 km/h with the Navigate on Autopilot (NOA) system turned on as it approached an area with roadworks.
According to the car brand, traffic was diverted into the opposite lane. The system should have braked and warned the driver. The driver then took over control manually, but the car hit the barrier at 97 km/h.
Xiaomi states that the driver both braked and turned the steering wheel sharply immediately before the fatal accident.
The car activated the eCall system itself to call for help. When the emergency services arrived, the people in the car were beyond rescue.
Xiaomi said the doors could be opened manually via an emergency release located in the glove compartment. It is not specified whether the fire originated in the battery or other parts of the electric car.
Prior to the accident, Xiaomi had seen sales of its SU7 electric car in China soar, with 140,000 units of the model delivered in less than a year.
In China, the SU7 model has at times sold better than the Tesla Model 3. In March alone, Xiaomi delivered 29,000 electric cars. Xiaomi has thus made its mark on the electric car market.
Xiaomi has published the following timeline for the event:
- 22:27:17: NOA (autonomous driving) activated, vehicle speed 116 km/h
- 22:28:17: Mild distraction warning issued
- 22:36:48: NOA issued a hands-free warning: "Please hold the steering wheel"
- 22:44:24: NOA issued a hazard warning: "Watch out for obstacles ahead," with a request to slow down
- 22:44:25: Driver took over from NOA, goes into manual driving mode, steering wheel turned 22.0625 degrees to the left, brake pedal pressed 31% down
- 22:44:26: Steering wheel turned 1.0625 degrees to the right, brake pedal depressed 38%
- Between 10:44:26–28: Coach vehicles collided with concrete barrier
- 22:44:28: Koret's eCall drawn
- 22:44:39: eCall connected, accident confirmed, police and emergency services contacted
- 22:45:06: Contact established with the owner of the vehicle, confirms that the owner did not short
- 22:47:15: Emergency medical services have been dispatched
- Around 11:00 PM: Emergency services arrived at the scene
