- China’s Dreame is reportedly shutting its car operation barely a year after launching.
- Concepts promised rocket thrust, solid-state batteries, and outrageous acceleration.
- Brand appeared at CES 2026 with its first car, but by the spring it was shedding jobs.
Dreame’s adventure into the car business appears to have lived up to its name, according to a report from China Economy. After teasing Bugatti-like hypercars, ultra-luxury SUVs, rocket propulsion, and performance figures that sounded suspiciously like cheat codes, the Chinese vacuum cleaner giant is reportedly pulling the plug on its automotive ambitions barely a year after announcing them.
The tech firm entered the automotive world in August 2025 in controversial style when it dropped renders showing its first car would be a four-door coupe whose design was shamelessly ripped from Bugatti’s Chiron. Weeks later it revealed images of an SUV that had clearly been copying a Rolls-Royce Cullinan’s homework.
Related: If You Ever Dreamed Of A Cheap Bugatti Sedan, China Has You Covered
By early 2026, Dreame’s new “Starry Sky” auto division was showing a physical supercar concept at CES, which, as it turned out, looked nothing like a Bugatti after all. The Nebula Next 01 was followed in March by an X-badged SUV brother, and in April by the Nebula Next 01 Jet Edition, a rocket-propelled coupe that could allegedly reach 62 mph (100 kmh) in just 0.9 seconds.
If you were thinking at the time that sounded slightly too good to be true, some alleged behind-the-scenes details reported by Car News China will leave you feeling vindicated. Former employees told China Economy that Dreame’s CES supercar didn’t have a proper chassis and had to be moved remotely. They claim the Rocket Car was allegedly sourced from a model-making company before being modified with a chassis and thrusters to put on a convincing show.
Funding Scrutiny
Now the show, and the dream, is apparently over. An automotive workforce that once approached 1,000 people has reportedly been reduced to only a few dozen staff tasked with winding things down. Chinese government scrutiny over investment funding is also said to have complicated matters.
Like Porsche trimming side ventures while refocusing on sports cars, Dreame is returning to businesses it actually knows, including vacuums, robotic lawnmowers, electric two-wheelers, and robots. Sometimes you’ve just got to clean up your own mess, and Dreame at least has the tools for the job.
