Watch as Chinese tech company Xiaomi launches highly anticipated electric vehicle

Watch as Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi launches its highly anticipated electric vehicle and begins to take orders on Thursday 28 March.

The tech company will start taking orders for the SU7, a sporty four-door sedan, following an event with founder Lei Jun in Beijing.

It marks the company’s entry into the competitive auto market at a time when the industry is grappling with a price war and slowing sales.

The Speed Ultra 7 (SU7) will be priced below 500,000 yuan (£54,836), with analysts expecting it to be in the 300,000 yuan (£32,900) range.

Xiaomi is hoping that the SU7’s shared operating system with its phones, laptops and other devices will appeal to existing customers.

Government subsidies have helped make China the world’s largest market for electric vehicles, and a bevy of new makers are locked in fierce competition.

Most of the industry’s sales have been domestic, but Chinese makers are pushing into overseas markets with lower-priced models, posing a potential challenge to European, Japanese and American auto giants.