Actual investigation of Xiaomi Automobile Factory: Thousands of new cars have been prepared, and some workshops have been working overnight
Reporter Lu Qingsong
"Click. On the afternoon of March 20, Mr. Meng, who was riding a motorcycle past the Xiaomi Automobile Factory in Yizhuang, Beijing, stopped his car, held up his mobile phone and took a photo of the factory. The lens of his mobile phone is aimed at the rows of Xiaomi's first car "Xiaomi SU7". "I've always been concerned about Xiaomi cars, and I happened to see it when I passed by this time, but I didn't expect it to have been produced so much. Mr. Meng sighed as he got up and looked.
On March 12, Xiaomi Auto's official Weibo announced that Xiaomi Auto will be launched on March 28. "The three-year contract, the listing is delivered, and the delivery is the volume. "As the release date approaches, Xiaomi Auto is getting a lot of attention online.
A week before the listing, the reporter visited the Xiaomi automobile factory and found that compared with the boiling heat on the Internet, the Xiaomi automobile factory, as the "base camp" of Xiaomi's car manufacturing, appeared quiet, orderly and orderly.
I often see Xiaomi SU7 drive tests
Everyone is no longer surprised
Approaching the Xiaomi automobile factory in Yizhuang, Beijing, you can see at a glance the rows of Xiaomi SU7 neatly arranged in the parking area in the north of the factory, and the reporter counted the number of more than 1,000 units. It was a sandy March in Beijing, and all the cars were covered with a thin layer of dust, but even so, the shiny bodies still reflected the light in the sun.
In addition to the three colors that have been announced, Gulf Blue, Olive Green, and Ya Gray, there are some other colors of Xiaomi SU7 parked in the venue. Lei Jun, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi Group, once said through a short video that Xiaomi SU7There are more than three colors, and the specific colors will be revealed at the press conference.
According to public information, Xiaomi has planned the construction of two phases of the Xiaomi car factory here, and the first phase of the project has been completed, and on the morning of March 19, Xiaomi carried out the official unveiling of the Xiaomi car super factory. At present, there is still a ring of road surface outside the factory that has not been repaired, the yellow-brown earth is covered with blue nets, and there are construction workers digging and surveying, and there are also construction vehicles carrying out sprinkling operations.
From the outside, in the open area of the factory, there are occasional workers in twos and threes, and trucks are whizzing past the roads around the factory.
During the visit, the reporter noticed that there was a vehicle transporter loaded with 6 Xiaomi SU7, driving into the Xiaomi car factory from the outside road, and the driver of the transport truck told the reporter that he was conducting test work, mainly to test the safety and reliability of Xiaomi SU7 transportation.
In the Xinfang Road area on the east side of the factory, every few hundred meters, there are signs about the autonomous vehicle driving test area, which read, "You have entered the autonomous driving test area, please pay attention to safety" and "You have driven out of the automatic driving test area, thank you for your cooperation." In the test section, the Xiaomi SU7 can occasionally be seen driving without a full license plate.
For the road test of the Xiaomi SU7, pedestrians, including security guards, have been surprised in the past. "In the past, Xiaomi SU7 was running in the factory, but now you can often see SU7 running on the road, most of the time it is one, sometimes it is several cars running together. The day-shift security guard on duty at the West Second Gate of the Xiaomi Automobile Factory told reporters, "When the Xiaomi car was not announced before, there were many fans and self-media people who came to visit here." Now that the appearance information has been announced, everyone is not so curious about the Xiaomi car on the road. ”
The factory has been settled for more than two years
Still shrouded in mystery
The reporter visited and found that the Xiaomi car factory is very well-known in the surrounding areas, both men and women, young and old know that there is a "Xiaomi Group car factory", everyone talks about the eye-catching appearance of Xiaomi cars, and also has their own judgment on its final pricing.
"Many of the people who are active in this area are dealing with Xiaomi Group, so we will naturally talk about some topics related to Xiaomi cars. Mr. Li, who runs an express station in Fangxindian Village, on the east side of the Xiaomi Automobile Factory, told reporters.
Mr. Li pointed to the direction and introduced the future plan of the Xiaomi automobile factory: "In the future, the Xiaomi factory will build a second phase on the land of Fangxindian Village, and Jingdong and SF Express have logistics parks here, but now they have been withdrawn." ”
"This park was built with my eyes in mind. When it comes to the Xiaomi Automobile Factory, Boss Xu, who has been operating a small supermarket in Fangxindian Village for more than ten years, suddenly gushed. His small supermarket has two gates, west and south, and the west gate of the supermarket is facing the east wall of the Xiaomi automobile factory, and the two are only a few dozen meters away.
According to Boss Xu, the Xiaomi car factory began large-scale construction around 2022 and was basically completed last year. The Xiaomi SU7 has been gradually parked in the park since the end of last year. "Who would have thought that a brand that makes mobile phones could build a car, and it was built right in front of my store. I'm just waiting for the press conference on March 28th, and it's going to be a lively place by then. ”
Because of the tight security of the Xiaomi car factory, there is always a layer of mystery in the descriptions of the surrounding residents.
"Occasionally, people from the factory come to me to buy things, and they pay cash. Boss Xu picked up the phone and tapped the back of the phone, "Their cameras are all wrapped in duct tape, and they can't scan the payment QR code." ”
The reporter randomly questioned several workers who came out of the factory, and all of them politely declined to be interviewed by reporters. Even the cleaning staff at the factory said they had signed a confidentiality agreement and it was inconvenient to disclose the situation.
The factory is currently operating day and night
Vehicles are constantly coming in and out
At half past three in the morning on March 21, the reporter visited the Xiaomi automobile factory again, at this time the entire factory was silent and quiet, most of the area was illuminated by lights, and forklifts and trucks could occasionally be seen passing through the factory.
Through the light from the windows, most of the workshops are lit up, and some of the workshops continue to emit the humming sound of mechanical operation, so it is impossible to directly judge the internal working conditions.
The roller shutter door of the battery workshop building numbered 6 occasionally opens, and when you look through the railing of the factory's exterior wall, you can see that workers wearing white hard hats and orange reflective vests are working intensively inside. There are forklifts loaded with goods in and out of the battery workshop, and from time to time there are trucks parked at the door of the battery workshop and driving out of the factory after loading and unloading.
The night shift security guard at the west gate of the factory told reporters that the factory was on duty 24 hours a day, and vehicles entered and exited throughout the day. "During the day, there are cars coming in and out, and at night most cars are going out from the factory. ”
Boss Luo, who runs a mobile food stall on the east side of the Xiaomi auto factory, also said that the Xiaomi auto factory is currently working day and night, and occasionally employees on night duty come out to buy something to eat.
Lei Jun once said on Weibo posted on March 13 that he would increase the factory's production capacity as soon as possible on the premise of ensuring quality and ensure early delivery after the release. At the same time, Xiaomi Auto has recently opened the first batch of tastings in 29 cities, and netizens can register and make an appointment to get close to Xiaomi SU7 three days in advance.
It can be inferred from this that in order to ensure the supply of exhibition cars and the delivery of new cars, it is reasonable for the Xiaomi car factory to open day and night. According to some analysts, March and April may be the ramp-up period for Xiaomi's car factory, and if the sales situation is ideal, the factory will reach its maximum capacity after April.
"Dare to produce thousands of vehicles without going on the market, Lei Jun is very confident that he will become an instant hit. A financial blogger commented on Weibo.
What is the price of the Xiaomi SU7? How many of the current "100,000 appointments to the store" can be converted into sales? What will be the development of the Xiaomi car factory? A large number of netizens are discussing these issues and causing a lot of speculation. Fortunately, the press conference is approaching, and all questions will be answered on March 28.