Xiaomi's Vision GT Becomes First Chinese Concept Car in Gran Turismo 7
At the Gran Turismo World Series event in Singapore, Polyphony Digital announced that Xiaomi’s Vision GT concept car will join Gran Turismo 7 in October, arriving with the game’s Spec IV update. It becomes the first Chinese Vision Gran Turismo entry in the franchise’s history — a milestone for both the game and the Chinese auto industry.
The Vision Gran Turismo program is a long-running collaboration in which carmakers design fantasy machines specifically for the game, free from production constraints. Xiaomi’s Vision GT follows the SU7 Ultra, the electric performance sedan that became the first Chinese production car ever added to the Gran Turismo series. Together, the two cars give Chinese automotive design a permanent place in one of the world’s most respected driving games.
For Xiaomi, the timing fits its broader strategy. The Beijing-based electronics giant entered the car business with the SU7 and has since pushed a performance-focused image, including track records and high-horsepower variants. Appearing in Gran Turismo — a franchise with a famously detail-obsessed fan base — signals that Xiaomi wants to be judged on driving feel and design, not just software and price.
Gran Turismo’s creator Kazunori Yamauchi has often described the series as a bridge between virtual and real car culture. Adding a Chinese concept car expands that bridge eastward. For millions of players worldwide, the Vision GT may be their first close look at a Chinese performance design, long before such a car would ever reach a showroom in their country.
The announcement also reflects a wider shift in the gaming world. Chinese carmakers are increasingly using video games as a marketing channel, and racing titles are a natural fit: they let players experience speed, handling and styling in a way a static advertisement cannot. Xiaomi’s move follows a pattern of Chinese brands entering global gaming collaborations to build cultural credibility with younger audiences.
For Gran Turismo fans, the practical question is how the Vision GT will drive. Concept cars in the program range from wild hypercars to near-fictional machines, and each is tuned to feel distinct. Xiaomi has not yet detailed the car’s in-game performance, but the Spec IV update will let players judge for themselves when it goes live.
The bigger picture is a quiet first. A Chinese company now appears twice in a Japanese-developed racing franchise that once defined global car culture almost entirely through European and Japanese marques. For a generation of players, the idea of a Chinese concept car in Gran Turismo may soon feel as ordinary as a Nissan Skyline — and that, more than any single lap time, is the real landmark.