Xiaomi's shares rose sharply after the Chinese electric-vehicle maker reported solid orders for its new SkyNomad series.

Its Hong Kong-listed stock was 8.5% higher in Friday afternoon trading after rising as much as 9.2% earlier, still on track for its best daily percentage gain since July.

Xiaomi said in a Weibo post Thursday that locked-in orders for the SkyNomad lineup have surpassed 70,000 units since its launch in early September.

Citi analysts described it as a slower-than-expected ramp. "But in our view, investors' expectations were not that high to begin with," they said in a note.

The SkyNomad line introduces Xiaomi's first plug-in hybrid sport-utility vehicles. The seven-seater N90 has a starting presale price of 299,900 yuan, equivalent to about $44,745, while prices for the five-seater N70 start at 259,900 yuan.

Chinese EV rivals were also broadly higher in Hong Kong on Friday, though gains were more modest. BYD rose 3.5%, Geely Automobile climbed 2.7% and XPeng was up 2.3%.