Shares of Chinese tech firm Xiaomi rose by 3.6 percent in Hong Kong on Friday to HK$58.95($7.51)amid robust pre-orders for its YU7 electric sport utility vehicle(SUV),with media reports describing the company as a challenger to US electric car maker Tesla.

In the first 18 hours after the company opened the pre-orders,a total of 240,000 orders were placed,Xiaomi said in one of its Sina Weibo accounts.

Late on Thursday,Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun announced on his Sina Weibo account that the company received 289,000 initial orders for the YU7 in its first hour on sale.

Citing exceptionally strong initial orders for Xiaomi's YU7 model,which beat market expectations of around 100,000,Reuters reported on Friday that there is speculation that Tesla may have to cut prices to fight back.

The YU7 is Xiaomi's second vehicle and it undercuts Tesla's Model Y in price by nearly 4 percent,Reuters reported.The YU7 is priced from 253,500 yuan($35,360).

Tesla's Model Y,meanwhile,is currently China's best-selling SUV.

China maintained its lead in the global EV industry in 2024,having sold over 11 million electric cars,per the Global EV Outlook 2025 from the International Energy Agency,dated May 14.

China is poised to continue leading in electric car sales until 2030,according to the IEA.

In the first five months of this year,China's NEV sales reached 4.35 million units,up 34.1 percent year-on-year,according to data from a monthly industry report released by the China Passenger Car Association(CPCA)on June 9.