The Chinese firm - better known as a phone maker - began displaying its cars in showrooms on Monday.

It also hinted at a price for the electric sedan, dubbed the SU7.

Chief Executive Lei Jun said it would be the "best looking, easiest to drive" car priced below 500,000 yuan - or just under $70,000.

That was the first time the company had indicated an upper limit for the vehicle's pricing.

Full details are set to be released on Thursday evening, when orders will also start to be taken.

Anticipation over the EV has been building since it was unveiled in December.

It's the first step in an ambitious plan for Xiaomi to become one of the world's top-five carmakers.

Lei says the vehicle beats rival products from Tesla and Porsche on acceleration.

Now Xiaomi says it will invest $10 billion in developing cars over the next decade.

It wants to diversify away from a flagging market for smartphones.

And it's not the only Chinese tech firm thinking about cars.

Rival phone maker Huawei and search engine giant Baidu have both partnered with local automakers.

But they enter the sector at a difficult time, with China's EV market in the middle of a fierce price war sparked by Tesla.