China's used-EV market just handed Xiaomi a trophy it didn't have to build a single billboard for. On November 2, the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), via its valuation arm Jingzhen Gu, released its October 2026 pure-EV retention-rate report — and the one-year leaderboard reads like a Chinese-brand love letter.

Xiaomi's YU7 holds 82.3% of its value after a single year, narrowly edging Li Auto's i6 at 82.0%. NIO's ES8 takes third at 77.5%, and most models on the list stay above 73%. For a segment once dismissed as a depreciation cliff, that is a genuinely healthy curve.

Stretch the clock to three years, though, and the script flips. Tesla owns the podium outright: Model 3 at 61.3%, Model X at 59.4%, Model Y at 53.9%. BYD's Seagull sneaks into fourth at 50.4% — the only non-Tesla in the top tier.

The takeaway writes itself: fresh Chinese EVs are holding value like never before in year one, but when buyers ask "what's this worth in three years," the badge that still prints confidence is a Tesla.

Editor's Note: Xiaomi sells cars on hype — and apparently the second-hand market is buying the hype too. The three-year test is where the real grade gets written.

— need a chat about China NEV market? mail me @ sheng.ye@ipsos.com