By Ju-min Park and Qiaoyi Li
BEIJING, July 30 (Reuters) - China's Xiaomi launched an SUV series dubbed SkyNomad on Thursday, expanding its EV lineup into the large-family SUV segment, as it seeks to boost
sales in the country's ultra-competitive auto market ahead of a planned European launch next year.
With the SkyNomad, Xiaomi is hoping to boost vehicle deliveries after first-half EV sales reached only about one third of its annual target, and as consumer demand softens in the world's largest car market amid a sluggish economy.
Xiaomi, which also makes smartphones and home appliances, has positioned SkyNomad as an "intelligent, reconfigurable, large-space SUV", contrasting it with the SU7 sedan and YU7 SUV series that focus on driving dynamics.
For Xiaomi, whose EV business has become an increasingly important source of revenue over the last two years, SkyNomad represents a push into China's family SUV market.
GASOLINE ENGINE HELPS EXTEND RANGE
The flagship N90 Max, a seven-seat SUV that Xiaomi describes as "a house you can move", combines a 76-kilowatt-hour battery with a 1.5-liter turbocharged range extender and a 60-liter fuel tank.
Extended-range electric vehicles, or EREVs, are driven primarily by electric motors and use a gasoline engine as an onboard generator to recharge the battery or sustain electricity supply when needed.
"Six seats are not enough for families ... If we compare a vehicle to a house, we can freely arrange our space and decorate," Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun said at its launch event.
Xiaomi said the N90 Max, priced at 299,900 yuan ($44,397), has a combined range of up to 1,705 km (1,059 miles).
The SkyNomad line is built on Xiaomi's new Kunlun architecture, which the company says was developed specifically for larger SUVs with adaptable cabins.
Xiaomi will take pre-orders starting from Thursday and bring the vehicles to market in September, Lei said.
($1 = 6.7550 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Ju-min Park and Qiaoyi Li; Editing by David Holmes)
