By Hamza Faisal
Xiaomi's electric-vehicle business just had its best month of 2026. The Chinese smartphone maker said on Sunday that its auto unit delivered more than 50,000 vehicles in October, the highest monthly total of the year, as it ramps up production to meet an ambitious full-year target.
The company did not disclose an exact October total or a breakdown by model. But the milestone ends two consecutive months of year-on-year declines, according to CnEVPost, which tracks Chinese EV sales. Treating 50,000 as the lower bound, October was up at least 25 percent on September's 40,015 deliveries and about 3 percent on the 48,654 vehicles delivered a year earlier.
A second 50,000-plus month
October was only the second month in which Xiaomi Auto has topped 50,000 deliveries. The only previous month to reach that level was December 2025, with 50,212 deliveries, according to CnEVPost's compiled data. Whether October set a new all-time monthly record will depend on the exact figure, which is expected in a China Passenger Car Association report later this month.
CnEVPost credits the turnaround to the Sky Nomad range, an extended-range model Xiaomi launched on September 7. The model delivered 12,444 vehicles in its first month and drew more than 70,000 orders within 30 days. The outlet's reading is that Sky Nomad is offsetting softer sales of the SU7 sedan and YU7 SUV, though Xiaomi itself has not broken out October sales by model.
The 550,000-vehicle mountain
The bigger question is the full-year target. Xiaomi Auto delivered at least 336,490 vehicles in the first ten months of 2026, up at least 6.7 percent on the 315,376 delivered in the same period last year. That is about 61 percent of its annual target of 550,000 vehicles.
To reach that goal, the company would need to deliver up to 213,510 more vehicles in the final two months of the year, averaging about 106,755 a month. That is roughly 2.1 times October's reported lower bound, so even a record month leaves Xiaomi needing a much faster pace in November and December.
Cumulative deliveries reached at least 887,798 vehicles by the end of October, up from 837,798 at the end of September, as the car business Xiaomi launched only a few years ago continues to scale.
China's EV race stays hot
Xiaomi is not the only Chinese EV maker reporting momentum. Rival BYD posted a sixth straight month of sales growth in October, with vehicle sales up 11 percent from a year earlier to 490,168 units, according to Reuters calculations based on a company disclosure. Overseas shipments rose 102.8 percent on the year to 170,194 units, helping BYD counter sluggish demand and intense price competition at home.
For Xiaomi, October proves its factories can push past 50,000 cars in a month. The next two months will show whether they can do roughly double that, month after month.
