Xiaomi Auto booked more than 70,000 locked-in orders for its Sky Nomad lineup in the 30 days following its September 7 launch, the company said on Weibo on Thursday, covering the period through October 7. It did not break the figure down by variant.

The order number is a demand signal, not a delivery count — and it comes with real production attached. Xiaomi founder, chairman and CEO Lei Jun said on October 1 that Sky Nomad deliveries exceeded 10,000 vehicles in September, in the lineup's first month on the market.

That contribution helped Xiaomi Auto post total September deliveries of more than 40,000 vehicles, its highest monthly level this year and up from 30,153 in August. The company has yet to publish an exact September figure.

What is Sky Nomad?

The lineup went on sale and began deliveries on September 7 at a starting price of 209,900 yuan ($31,160; $1 = 6.7367 yuan), marking Xiaomi's entry into the extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) segment.

It comprises four variants:

• 5-seat N70 Pro
• 5-seat N70 Max
• 7-seat N90 Max
• 5-seat N90 Max Studio, a camping-oriented version

Before Sky Nomad, Xiaomi Auto's portfolio consisted of the battery-electric SU7 sedan and YU7 SUV. The new series extends the customer base with extended-range powertrains and different seating configurations aimed at family buyers.

How reliable are the order numbers?

This is the first locked-order update since Xiaomi reported more than 10,000 within four minutes of launch. Xiaomi Auto vice president Li Xiaoshuang has said the company will disclose only the initial wave of locked-in orders and first-month totals for future launches, so monthly order granularity is unlikely to continue.

Locked-in orders reflect committed customer demand but remain distinct from actual deliveries, and conversion timing will determine how quickly the backlog translates into output.

Can Xiaomi reach 550,000 this year?

The arithmetic is tight. Using September's disclosed lower bound of 40,000, Xiaomi delivered at least 286,475 vehicles in the first nine months — roughly 52.1% of its 550,000-unit annual target. That leaves a steep fourth-quarter ramp to close the gap.

The market Sky Nomad enters is not doing Xiaomi any favors. China's retail sales of extended-range EVs fell 15.85% year-on-year to 616,000 vehicles in the first eight months, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

What to watch next: the exact September delivery figure if Xiaomi discloses it, the pace of Sky Nomad order-to-delivery conversion in October, and whether monthly output can hold above 40,000 as the company pushes toward 550,000.