Xiaomi‘s Hong Kong-listed shares have dropped nearly 9% on Monday after reports of a fatal accident involving its debut model, the SU7 sedan.
The tech giant’s stock closed 5.71% lower at HK$49.08 — marking the worst day since April.
Several images and videos circulated on Chinese social media this Monday showing that a Xiaomi SU7 Ultra caught fire after a crash in Chengdu.
The vehicle failed to open its doors after the accident, trapping one person in the driver’s seat, according to a National Business Daily report.
The incident has intensified scrutiny of electronic car door handles, which became popular in electric vehicles after Tesla introduced them with its flagship Model S a decade ago.
In September, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened a probe into Tesla, regarding the door handles of Model Ys produced from 2021.
According to Bloomberg, the preliminary evaluation came a few days after the outlet reported people were injured or died after being unable to open the doors when the power is lost, particularly after crashes.
Earlier this month, a wrongful death lawsuit claimed that Tesla‘s electronic door handle system trapped a 19-year-old inside a burning Cybertruck.
Weeks after the NHTSA investigation, Bloomberg reported that Rivian, another US EV maker, is redesigning its vehicle doors following employee concerns about potential safety issues.
According to people familiar with the matter, the Irvine-based company plans to incorporate “a manual release that is more clearly visible and located near the electrically powered interior handles in the rear doors” of its upcoming SUV, the R2.
Earlier this year, a fatal crash involving a Xiaomi vehicle raised concerns over the safety of smart driving features.
In late March, a SU7 driving in intelligent mode crashed into an obstacle, causing the vehicle to catch fire and explode, with three people inside.
The victims’ families questioned the brand as to why the doors didn’t open post-collision.
Xiaomi announced in September that it would issue an over-the-air software update to fix a flaw in its advanced driver-assistance system, covering nearly 116,900 of its SU7 electric sedans.
By then, China’s market regulator said that in certain conditions where the car’s L2 (Level 2) highway assist function is engaged, the system may fail to properly detect and warn of unusual scenarios.
If drivers do not intervene, the risk of collision could rise — the regulator noted.
