The company confirmed in e-mail correspondence with TechCentral on Wednesday that it would introduce the vehicle locally.
"The vehicle will be coming to South Africa - we just do not have confirmation yet as to when exactly," a spokeswoman for Xiaomi South Africa said in response to a query from TechCentral.
In follow-up correspondence on Thursday, the same spokeswoman said it is "not confirmed" that the vehicle is being launched in South Africa. "Plans for official sales or availability are still under consideration," she said, adding that Xiaomi has not yet committed to sales, dealerships or local market roll-out.