If someone asks which model in the Chinese market has not been on fire now, this model is undoubtedly the Xiaomi SU7. It's even more popular than any other model on the market.
Since that technology conference at the end of December, the Xiaomi SU7 has become the focus of everyone's discussion. The point of discussion is not how good its self-developed super motor is, nor how the experience of the "people, cars, and homes" ecology is, but its price.
Yes, the price of the Xiaomi SU7 tugs at everyone's nerves. Previously, Lei Jun's press conference said, "Don't 99,000, don't 149,000, the battery pack is 10 tens of thousands, what do you want?", "You still have to respect technology". It is destined that the price of Xiaomi SU7 is not destined to be cheap.
But human goddamn curiosity drives everyone to keep speculating about the value of Xiaomi's first car.
A few days ago, some netizens posted that "there has been a Xiaomi SU7 license, and the insurance company inquired about the policy price of the top model of 361,400 yuan." Xiaomi Auto's response was that "unofficial information is not true."
What's more interesting is that Xiaomi Auto officially released a "Xiaomi Auto Answers Netizen 100 Questions (Part I)" at the beginning of January, which responds to the question of "What is the approximate pricing of Xiaomi Auto SU7? When will it be announced?", the official answer said, "We really don't have a final price yet." Mr. Lei also introduced it at the Xiaomi automotive technology conference, which is indeed a bit expensive...... The final pricing will be announced at the Xiaomi SU7 official launch event. ”
Officials have been slow to take a stand, but they seem to be happy to see the frenzied discussion on social media. Xiaomi car seems to be reaping the flow of traffic, but in fact, it is also bearing huge risks - because the price war in the car market is still in full swing, and there are a number of competitors eyeing each other, once the pricing strategy of Xiaomi SU7 is slightly flawed, beyond market awareness, it is bound to suffer from traffic backlash.
As the saying goes, if you want to wear a crown, you must bear its weight. The topic of SU7 pricing is so crazy that it is not a good sign for Xiaomi cars.
Everything is ready, only the price is owed?
At the technology conference of Xiaomi Auto at the end of 2023, Lei Jun introduced a lot of technologies, super motors, super batteries, large die-casting and intelligent experience, and the details of the speed that has not yet been mass-produced can reach up to 27200rpm, the maximum horse 578ps, The V8s super motor with a peak torque of 635N.m has been moved out, in addition to the 9100t super large die-casting technology that far exceeds Tesla's Shanghai factory, the details of the onlookers are excited, plus the appearance design and Porsche Taycan have a bit of a god, Xiaomi SU7's debut can be said to be ambitious, vowing to become famous and lead the new trend of new energy car manufacturing.
In the eyes of Lei Jun and Xiaomi's board of directors, SU7 is the work of Xiaomi Group, every detail parameter is top-notch, and full-stack self-research has proved to the world that it has core R&D capabilities, and Xiaomi Auto is a hexagonal all-round warrior without shortcomings. Full of science and technology, the key is not to be stuck, it seems, Xiaomi intends to guide public opinion - let's not talk about the price, just look at my hard power, is it ahead of any of the present, more hardcore and cooler. That's enough.
However, this kind of behavior of only talking about product power and not talking about price is quite suspicious of hooliganism.
Of course, according to the plan, the Xiaomi SU7 is expected to be launched in the first half of 2024, and the final price will be announced at the official product launch of Xiaomi Auto. Therefore, it is reasonable that Xiaomi cars do not have official information on the price now.
However, since the Xiaomi car technology conference at the end of last year, starting from Lei Jun, Xiaomi cars have been chattering about the price from top to bottom, intentionally or unintentionally, and have been hanging everyone, and such marketing methods have caused fatigue to some extent. Let you look at beautiful women every day, and after a long time, you will inevitably get aesthetic fatigue. No matter how beautiful it is, it becomes mediocre.
What's more, the technical parameters of Xiaomi cars are not as far ahead as imagined, and the differentiation of new energy vehicles at the product level is not so obvious, and now it is nothing more than who realizes it more quickly, and the hardware and software technology iteration of each brand is very rapid, someone can lead for a while, but it will soon be caught up, which is an objective fact. Mobile phone products are the best example of this.
What's more, now that the price war is raging, the price of Xiaomi cars is really hard to set, and if you are not careful, you will be overwhelmed by competitors.
to be or not to be
With the price of 1999 yuan per year, Xiaomi mobile phones have achieved the ultimate cost performance. This is the only way to fight a bloody road and achieve today's Xiaomi Group. From the perspective of path realization, Xiaomi Auto should also take the road of extreme price, copy the strategy of low-cost and high-quality products, quickly occupy the market, and then slowly figure it out, from low-end to high-end.
However, the automotive market and the mobile phone market are clearly different. I don't know if you still remember that in the first two decades of the 21st century, when China's auto market was dominated by joint venture brands, independent brands were pressed to the market segment below 100,000 yuan, whether it was a state-owned enterprise group or a private car company, it was really difficult to launch a product in the market segment of more than 150,000 yuan.
No way, whether it is at the level of product technology or brand marketing, it is difficult to rush from low-end to high-end. This is not a problem for Chinese brands, and the same is true for joint venture brands. Let's take the second-tier luxury joint venture brands as an example, although they have product strength that is not inferior to BBA, and they have also established a firm foothold in terms of brand recognition and luxury, but they are a cut behind BBA in terms of market sales.
This is a characteristic of the automobile market, and it is not easy to rush down, but it is relatively easy to hit the top. Mercedes-Benz A-class sales in 2019 and 2020 have reached more than 68,000 units, you must know that it is equipped with a 1.3T engine, the power performance can be imagined, but because of the brand of Mercedes-Benz, nearly 70,000 units are sold a year.
If Xiaomi Auto takes the old road of mobile phones and launches a low-cost product first, then it will definitely be difficult to take the high-end road in the future. The situation is even more difficult than that of the independent brand back then. At that time, the independent brand still had at least 100,000 yuan of market segments as a base, and if it failed to rush up, it could accumulate strength again. Xiaomi cars have no way out, and if they fail to stand out, the problem will be serious.
If the Xiaomi car is priced relatively high, it will face new problems. First of all, the Xiaomi brand gives the market the perception that it is close to the people, the main thing is a cost-effective, it launches high-end products, and it is unknown how many high-net-worth people can pay for it. Moreover, competitors are like wolves, new power brands and second-generation new energy brands of Chinese car companies have been working in the market segment for many years, and they are ahead of the curve in terms of brand recognition.
Whether it is a low price in exchange for high sales, or a high price to gain a brand, for Xiaomi is like a choice to be or not to be. How to price the price is a question that Lei Jun needs to think about carefully. However, in the discussion of pricing, Lei Jun may have to control the rhythm, and the loss of the brand will outweigh the losses.
People's car evaluation/people's car network
Materialism tells us that it is a universal truth that things must be reversed and excessive. If a thing attracts too much attention, then it means that it has been put on the fire, whether it is burned or not, the ending is not destined to be too happy. Because it has been detached from the thing itself. For Xiaomi Auto, that's how much attention you have to accept when you win a lot of attention. The embankment of thousands of miles was destroyed in the anthill, because of the infinite magnification of a small problem, there are countless cases in ancient and modern China and abroad.
Xiaomi cars should probably cool down, what do you think?