Recently, Lei Jun has successively withdrawn from the senior management positions of a number of Xiaomi affiliated companies, and Xiaomi responded that it is a normal change. Some insiders speculate that this move may be seen as a signal for Lei Jun to focus on car building.
1
Then return a number of Xiaomi affiliates
According to Tianyan, lei jun has recently withdrawn from the positions of legal representative, executive director or chairman of a number of xiaomi affiliated companies, including Guangdong Xiaomi Technology Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Xiaomi Communication Technology Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Xiaomi Information Service Co., Ltd. and Zhuhai Xiaomi Communication Technology Co., Ltd.
Equity information shows that Guangzhou Xiaomi Information Service Co., Ltd. is wholly owned by Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd., and the other three companies are wholly owned by Xiaomi Communication Technology Co., Ltd. Not long ago, Lei Jun also withdrew from the position of legal representative, executive director and general manager of Xiaomi Technology (Wuhan) Co., Ltd., which is also wholly owned by Xiaomi Communication Technology Co., Ltd.
Xiaomi responded that it is a normal change. However, some insiders revealed that the baton is taken over by Xiaomi's core executives. This move may be seen as a signal for Lei Jun to focus on car building.
2
The last major venture of my life
In March this year, Lei Jun announced that Xiaomi officially entered the field of smart electric vehicles, established a wholly-owned subsidiary, and invested 10 billion yuan in the first phase, with an estimated investment of 10 billion US dollars in the next 10 years. He will also personally lead the team and bet on the full reputation of his life. He said, "This is the most important decision in the history of Xiaomi" and "this will be the last major entrepreneurial project in my life, and I am willing to bet on all the achievements and reputations accumulated in my life."
Since the announcement of the car, Xiaomi's car manufacturing has progressed very rapidly.
In terms of team building, in July this year, Lei Jun posted a recruitment advertisement for Xiaomi Automobile on Weibo, recruiting the first batch of 500 self-driving technicians. Shortly after, on a media conference call, Wang Xiang, president of Xiaomi Group, said that he had received more than 20,000 resumes since the start of car manufacturing. The Xiaomi auto team was carefully selected to form a team of about 300 people. In addition, the team is also expanding rapidly.
On September 1, Xiaomi Automobile Co., Ltd. was officially registered with a registered capital of 10 billion yuan, and the company's legal representative was Lei Jun. Headquartered in Beijing, the factory is located in Yizhuang.
It is understood that in the 5 months from the announcement of the car to the official registration of the company, the Xiaomi automobile team has conducted a large number of user research and industrial chain inspections, more than 2,000 research interviews, visited and deeply communicated with more than 10 industry peers and dozens of industrial partners, and at the same time intensively promoted the product definition and team building of the car.
On October 19, Lei Jun publicly stated that "the current progress of Xiaomi's car manufacturing is faster than I expected." ”
According to Xiaomi's plan, the first model will be launched in the first half of 2024. The company plans to sell 100,000 units in its first year. According to another source, Xiaomi plans to launch a new car every year for three years after 2024, with a total sales volume of 900,000 vehicles in three years.
3
Market competition has entered a white-hot stage
On December 13, it was reported that Zhimi Technology, an ecological chain company controlled by Xiaomi, has joined the car-making army, and the direction of car manufacturing is passenger cars, and the first model will launch an SUV. Ma Yongdong, former head of GM Pan Asia's electric vehicle project, joined the company and was responsible for Zhimi's vehicle business, and many BAIC's electrical and electronic architecture personnel joined Zhimi.
The news also revealed that the car-making business of Zhimi Technology is currently independent of Xiaomi Automobile. An automotive design company has approached Zhimi to dock the vehicle design work.
In this regard, at present, Zhimi Technology has not publicly responded, but many people in the industry believe that Xiaomi may open a two-line car-making strategy. The participation of enterprises in the same ecological chain can also help Xiaomi expand its territory in the automotive field.
Tianyan check shows that Zhimi Technology is a company focusing on the research and development and production of intelligent environmental appliances, and its products mainly include air purifiers, fresh air systems, humidifiers, electric heaters, etc.; Xiaomi co-founder Liu De is a suspected actual controller of Zhimi Technology, with a shareholding ratio of 95%.
In recent years, with the continuous expansion of brand products such as Weilai, Xiaopeng and Ideal, and the launch of new energy sub-brands by established car companies, the competition in the domestic new energy vehicle market can be said to have entered a white-hot stage.
According to the Data of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China reached 457,000 and 450,000 units respectively in November, an increase of 1.3 times and 1.2 times year-on-year, respectively, and continued to set new records. From the perspective of subdivision models, the production and sales of pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles have also set new records. The market penetration rate of new energy vehicles was 17.8% in November, which was higher than that of the previous month.
Source: China Association of Automobile Manufacturers
Among them, in the field of new energy passenger cars in China, the number of automobile companies with sales exceeding 10,000 units in November reached 12. BYD Automobile ranked first with 90,142 units sold, up 247.8% year-on-year. In addition, SAIC-GM-Wuling and Tesla China also sold more than 30,000 new energy passenger cars in November.
In terms of new car-making forces, Xiaopeng Automobile and Ideal Automobile entered the top 10 in November in sales. Among them, Xiaopeng Automobile sold 15,613 units in November, an increase of 269.6% year-on-year; Ideal Automobile sold 13,485 units in November, an increase of 190.2% year-on-year. In addition, the sales of Nezha Automobile and Weilai Automobile in November also exceeded 10,000 units.
Source: Multiplying Association
In this context, although Xiaomi has accelerated to join the new energy car-making track, it is not yet known what the market will be in three years, and how to better break through in the future is still a problem that Xiaomi needs to think about.
Source: China Fund News (ID: chinafundnews)
Edit: Zhuo Yong