The price of the hot mouth, 215,900, Lei Jun paved the way for 3 years and finally said the Xiaomi SU7 pricing
In the past 3 years, Lei Jun, who has been reluctant to let go, has not been priced, but has not been able to set a price. The market is changing rapidly, and it is never the cost that determines the price, but the supply and demand. The relationship between supply and demand is always changing, and Li Xianghui, who has never lost a battle, admits that "MEGA has the wrong rhythm", and now, even Lei Jun, a "marketing genius", cannot be 100% sure of the sales of SU7.
Text: Zheng Sifang, Wang Xiaojuan
Edited |
Operation: Potatoes
Three years of pricing, a marketing war
At about 8 o'clock in the evening on March 28th, Lei Jun finally announced the pricing of Xiaomi SU7: 215,900 for the standard version.
At this price, Lei Jun paved the way for three years.
The most concentrated foreshadowing was that the day before the official listing, Lei Jun posted 8 tweets on Weibo in one go, more than Musk, who posted an average of 6 tweets a day.
In the more than ten days before the price was announced, Lei Jun, who has 23 million Weibo fans, is a marketing corps: take netizens to visit the six major process workshops of die-casting, body, assembly, painting, stamping, and battery, personally participate in and record the 1200km road test from Beijing to Shanghai, shoot videos to answer 100 questions from netizens, and also act as a model to show Xiaomi's tooling priced at 299 yuan and limited to 800 pieces. Three months ago, 54-year-old Lei Jun stood on the stage and talked about Xiaomi's leading technology for three hours, and the day of the press conference also became a stage high for Xiaomi's stock price.
All the news about Xiaomi SU7 is deeply bound to Lei Jun, continues to ferment, firmly grasps the public's attention, and brings substantial benefits. No car company does not envy Lei Jun and Xiaomi's marketing capabilities, so much so that at a Nezha live broadcast event two days ago, Zhou Hongyi of 360 directly taught Daniel Zhang, CEO of Nezha Automobile, "to learn the idea of Xiaomi Auto to display production bases."
And in the past 90 days, the uncertain price of the Xiaomi SU7 has been one of the biggest marketing gimmicks of Lei Jun.
Around pricing, Lei Jun and Xiaomi have had several key nodes in marketing.
Xiaomi's start is inseparable from the word "cost performance", but from the beginning, high-value cars are Lei Jun's goal.
As early as last December, at the Xiaomi automotive technology conference, Lei Jun directly stated: "Don't shout 90,009, it's impossible." But anyone with this kind of performance and configuration has to be more than 400,000, so 140,000 9 don't need to talk about it anymore, we still have to respect technology. ”
If Lei Jun on that day had not found a suitable subject matter for Xiaomi SU7 pricing, then a few days later, he replied to netizens with the sentence "Within 500,000, is there an opponent", which almost became the first price benchmark of SU7.
In addition to "500,000", Lei Jun also competed with the appearance and positioning of the car. In order to highlight that Xiaomi SU7 is "the best-looking, best driven, and smartest car within 500,000", in January this year, Lei Jun released a small survey on Weibo on "The best car within 500,000". Excluding Xiaomi SU7, the top three are the Audi A6 with 427,900-656,800, the Mercedes-Benz C series with 440,100-569,500, and the Tesla Model 3 with 245,900-285,900. The high-net-worth people behind these cars are the targets that Xiaomi Auto wants to seize.
▲ Lei Jun posted a small survey on Weibo on "the best-looking car within 500,000". Photo / Lei Jun Weibo
Regarding the turning point in pricing, it happened at the beginning of the year.
BYD shouted "electricity is lower than oil, glory strikes again", starting a price war in 2024, its two plug-in hybrid models Qin PLUS Glory Edition and Destroyer 05 Glory Edition dropped by 20,000 yuan, with a starting price as low as 79,800 yuan, realizing the tram freedom of many Didi drivers in one fell swoop, and becoming the "price butcher" of the new energy industry. Subsequently, SAIC-GM-Wuling, Changan Qiyuan, Nezha and other car companies have joined the ranks of the price war, including the ZEEKR 007 and Xiaopeng P7i, which are regarded as competitors of Xiaomi SU7, both models have been lowered by 15,000 yuan, to 209,900 yuan and 208,900 yuan respectively.
The market for new energy vehicles is changing faster than imagined, even if Xiaomi SU7 is about to be launched, Lei Jun, who is particularly sensitive to price, has visibly reduced the frequency of shouting "500,000" on this date.
Fortunately, the Xiaomi SU7, which has always been benchmarked against the Model 3, has recently waited for the news of Tesla's price increase. Subsequently, "high cost" and "a bit expensive" began to be repeatedly mentioned by Lei Jun.
On March 20, Lei Jun bluntly admired Tesla, which raised prices in the tide of price cuts. A Model 3 priced at 245,900 yuan, if roughly calculated according to the operating profit margin of the financial report, also needs a price of 223,000 yuan to basically equalize. He also hinted that the Xiaomi SU7 standard version, the configuration far exceeds the Model 3, and the materials are solid, especially in the early stage of the product, the cost of purchasing and testing cars is "very high", and the cost of the first batch of test cars is even as high as 2 million per car - saying so much, in fact, it is to give "the price may be a little expensive" a step.
▲ Xiaomi SU7. Photo / Xiaomi Auto's official Weibo
In terms of price marketing, Lei Jun and Xiaomi have spared no effort, resulting in various news that is difficult to distinguish between true and false. Since January this year, Wang Hua, general manager of Xiaomi's public relations department, has been refuting rumors about the pricing of various Xiaomi SU7 circulating on the Internet every month. But what is interesting is that these pricing rumors are concentrated in the price band of more than 200,000-300,000 yuan, and the price of 40-500,000 yuan proposed by Lei Jun is clearly distinguished.
For example, on January 30, a large insurance company confirmed that the insurance price of the high-end version of Xiaomi car was 361,400 yuan. A month later, a document circulated on the Internet from Beijing leaders investigating the Xiaomi Automobile Factory, which mentioned: "The Xiaomi Automobile Factory in the Economic Development Zone will be launched for the first time in March 2024 and delivered in April, and the vehicle production is expected to be about 2,000 vehicles in the first quarter, with an output value of 400 million yuan." In other words, the average price of Xiaomi cars in the document is 200,000.
Xiaomi's follow-up response, these are all rumors: the insurance price is not equal to the official selling price, and there is no relevant research and mass production estimate at the Xiaomi car factory.
The most outrageous price speculation is related to uniforms. Recently, Lei Jun's work jacket of the same model of Xiaomi Automobile Factory on the shelves of Xiaomi Mall urgently, priced at 299 yuan, limited to 800 pieces, one saying is, the reason why it is limited to 800 pieces is because 299 * 800 = 239200, from which it is calculated that the starting price of Xiaomi SU7 is 239,200, which is just lower than Tesla Model 3 and higher than Extreme Krypton 007 and Xiaopeng P7i.
▲ Lei Jun is wearing a Xiaomi automobile factory overalls jacket. Photo / Lei Jun Weibo
The pricing of SU7 eventually evolved into a metaphysics on the Internet, but what is certain is that Lei Jun and Xiaomi continue to release information to the outside world, in fact, they are also frequently testing the market to see the public's acceptance of the price.
The high price of SU7 has always been far from the public's expectations for Xiaomi's cars.
Just like 3 years ago, a few days after the official announcement of the car, Lei Jun predicted in a live broadcast that "the price range of the first Xiaomi car is 100,000-300,000 yuan". The reason is that he initiated a Weibo vote and set 5 range options for the price of Xiaomi's first car: within 100,000, 100,000-150,000, 150,000-200,000, 200,000-300,000, and more than 300,000.
In fact, if you look at the results of the voting options alone, nearly 40% of the 17,000 people who participated in the vote chose "less than 100,000". Obviously, more people hope that Xiaomi's first car can be within 100,000. However, Lei Jun, who is good at playing word games, said that the number of people who choose Xiaomi's first car in the "100,000-300,000" range is greater than the number of people who choose "within 100,000".
In the past 3 years, Lei Jun, who has been reluctant to let go, has not been priced, but has not been able to set a price. The market is changing rapidly, and it is never the cost that determines the price, but the supply and demand. The relationship between supply and demand is always changing, and Li Xiang, who has never lost a battle before, admits that "MEGA has the wrong rhythm", and now, even if he is a "marketing genius" Lei Jun, he can't be 100% sure of the sales of SU7.
How hard can you fight for sales?
In order to have greater certainty, Lei Jun and Xiaomi, for the sales of SU7, have already fought hard.
At noon on the day before the listing conference, the internal employees of Xiaomi Auto, employees of external partner companies, and employees of Xiaomi Holding Co., Ltd. received a notice from Xiaomi Auto: after the evening press conference on March 28, you can enter the link to select the model configuration after receiving the invitation SMS, the purchase invitation is valid within 24 hours, and the pre-order is as fast as possible, in order to ensure the locking of the first batch of rights and interests, the configuration cannot be adjusted after the deposit payment is completed, and the deposit is non-refundable.
A week earlier, the "hunger marketing" tactics that Xiaomi had used on its mobile phones had also been reactivated.
The first is the issuance of an F code, and having an F code means that there is a right of first refusal. Two insiders from Xiaomi's strategic partner company and Xiaomi's shareholding company revealed that Xiaomi cars had specially reserved the F code and ensured that they could have the right of first refusal, and the first batch of deliveries would be followed, and there would be corresponding welfare policies in the future. On the same day, the two companies issued the "Xiaomi Car Purchase Intention Registration Form" to count the number of car buyers.
▲ Xiaomi car F code resale. Figure / Screenshot of Xianyu App
The notice issued at noon on March 27 not only informed that the first batch of F-code places could be determined by invitation at the press conference, but also continued to open the registration channel for the second batch of F-code places.
Xiaomi officials previously denied the existence of the F code. On March 20, Wang Hua refuted rumors on Weibo: there is currently no "F code" or similar channels for priority purchase. But so far, everyone Auto has learned that there are still people holding F-code quotas, waiting for the arrival of the invitation text message.
Secondly, SU7 will release a limited number of Founder's Editions. An executive within Xiaomi Auto revealed that there are a total of 200 founder version places in the country, and their deposits may be in the range of 5,000-20,000 yuan depending on the options.
Finally, it was Xiaomi and the middle and senior executives who verbally consulted on the intention to buy a car. A person close to Xiaomi Auto revealed that Xiaomi Auto had a one-on-one conversation with middle and senior executives and signed to buy a car on the spot. Another Xiaomi car person also confirmed this statement to everyone Auto: "The founder version of the executive is different from the ordinary version, and it is a bit unreasonable to keep it for you and not want it." ”
In addition, a number of companies that are affiliated with or cooperate with Xiaomi Auto have explicitly or implicitly stated to their employees that there are exclusive benefits for purchasing Xiaomi Auto.
▲ Xiaomi car direct store. Photo / Visual China
The above-mentioned employee of the Xiaomi holding company believes: "There is no notice at the moment whether there is a discount, but (the notice) means that there may be." Another employee of a chip-related company revealed to each Auto that his company also released information on subsidies related to Xiaomi cars, saying that it can subsidize 20% for employees, but the specific rules have not yet been determined, "you can only know when you sign up."
On March 25th, Xunlei also released exclusive benefits to employees, including: "1. First to buy, the company will help buyers negotiate with Xiaomi for priority car purchase benefits;2. The top ten buyers will randomly select one to enjoy the free single benefit; the first 30 buyers can enjoy a subsidy of 10%. However, on March 26, the policy was withdrawn by the company, and the new welfare policy will be notified after the end of the Xiaomi car conference on March 28.
It is worth mentioning that Xunlei is one of the Xiaomi companies, in 2014, Xiaomi Group led the E round of financing of Xunlei with 200 million US dollars, and two months later, Xunlei was successfully listed on the US stock market. Despite the major management adjustment of Xunlei in 2020, Xiaomi still holds indirect shares and has a veto right over it.
At a critical moment, it is reasonable for Milla's brother companies to come to help. Every time Xiaomi Auto releases its car-related processes, various suppliers gather in the comment section of social media to help them. But now, what Xiaomi needs most is probably real sales in addition to these.
Also in a hurry to sell cars, there are also the salespeople of Xiaomi Auto. The day before the press conference, these sales people began to call to confirm with users whether they were interested in making a decision. According to a Xiaomi car sales company in Beijing, the channel has not yet been opened before the press conference, but those who are interested can pull the table in advance to count the number of people. At present,There are a total of 7 sales in his Xiaomi home store,Each of them has contacted dozens of interested parties,After the press conference,Users who pay a deposit can arrange a test drive in advance,Users who have not made a decision need to queue up,As for the amount of deposit、Whether it can be refunded,All subject to the press conference。
▲ Xiaomi Automobile Sales Center. Photo / Visual China
These combined forces are all aimed at boosting the sales of Xiaomi cars. At the end of last year, Lei Jun said in an interview with CCTV: "I'm particularly worried that if it doesn't catch fire, everyone won't buy it; ”
For Xiaomi, the first situation, "everyone doesn't buy", is probably the most terrible.
It used to be difficult, but now it's even harder
Lei Jun once said that on the day he announced the construction of the car in 2021, he was sick and shouted "fight for Xiaomi cars" in a hoarse voice. Now, three full years have passed since this tragic scene, and the industry is no longer the scene of that time, the price war and the knockout competition are intensifying, and the public's demand for cars has also undergone a lot of changes.
The pressure of building a car, Xiaomi's situation, transmitted to Lei Jun, it has become a hotly discussed "cliff-like aging", Lei Jun also said that blocking all the battles gave him a lot of courage and gave him great pressure. "In the past 1,000 days, every day has been trembling, and today it is finally time to hand in the homework, and it is impossible not to be nervous. Reminiscent of Xiaomi's high-spirited Lei Jun in the Internet era, the contrast is stark.
▲ Lei Jun participants walked out of the venue. Photo / Visual China
It can be said that it is the Internet dividend that has given Xiaomi its status today and allowed it to become one of the heads of mobile phone manufacturers. This industry has been fully competitive, the pattern is basically stable, although Xiaomi has repeatedly emphasized that mobile phone shipments are among the top three in the world, but the new growth curve is difficult to see, when the car begins to focus on the intelligent label, Xiaomi will naturally extend the ecological tentacles to the new intelligent terminal - smart car.
For a long time, Xiaomi has been committed to focusing on the ultimate cost performance, and then once wanted to complete the brand upward, but in the high-end market, it is difficult to improve for a long time. In terms of car building, Lei Jun therefore chose a different way of thinking, starting with luxury, frequently emphasizing that this car will not be too cheap, "there is no opponent within 500,000 yuan" and "we must be the top 3 luxury pure electric cars".
If it is said that in the era of mobile phones, Xiaomi can only be Apple's replacement, then in the era of automobiles, Lei Jun not only hopes that rice fans can choose SU7, but also hopes that more Apple users will choose Xiaomi.
After Apple was revealed to have given up building cars, Lei Jun called on Apple users on social media to choose Xiaomi cars. Xiaomi makes cars, but also provides real convenience for Apple users, the car machine system supports wireless Car Play, and the rear adsorption platform is not only compatible with Xiaomi Pad, but also compatible with iPad.
Dramatically, on the day the Xiaomi SU7 was opened for tasting, the Xiaomi Auto App was quickly launched on Apple's App Store, while the long-awaited rice fans waited another day to find the App in the app store of Xiaomi phones the next day.
▲ Xiaomi cars are on the Apple App Store. Picture / Screenshot of App Store
These details are all expressing the importance that Lei Jun and Xiaomi attach to the ecology. However, "science and technology manufacturers, ecological car-making", is no longer exclusive to Xiaomi, although Huawei does not make cars, but it is already an inescapable existence of the car circle, and more intuitively, in the past few months, the sales volume of the world has exceeded the ideal of the first list, and it is already the sales champion of the new luxury brand. After the explosion of the M7, Huawei seized the opportunity to cooperate everywhere, and the news of the new car continued, among which the positioning of the Zhijie S7 and Xiaomi SU7 is similar, due to the previous stuck in the production capacity, it was difficult to deliver, and it was simply decided to re-release it in April.
Xiaomi and Huawei, both of which are big technology companies, have had many competitions before, and now they meet in a narrow way and are strong opponents of each other.
In addition to opponents with the same background, Xiaomi also has to face the former hegemon of the industry.
From the end of December 2023, a number of new cars or facelifted cars on the market will directly give very competitive prices, especially several new cars under Geely, which have begun to take the lead in "encircling and suppressing" Xiaomi SU7.
The ZEEKR 007, which was launched the day before Xiaomi's automotive technology conference, is the second pure electric car under ZEEKR, equipped with ZEEKR's latest self-developed gold brick battery, and uses the 800V platform as a selling point. The theme of the press conference for the launch of this car is "the king of pure electric cars", but the price is amazing, directly to 210,000 yuan. Immediately after the beginning of January, Geely's other sedan Galaxy E8 was officially launched, with a guide price of 175,800-228,800 yuan, which formed a perfect connection with the pricing of ZEEKR 007.
▲ ZEEKR 007. Photo / ZEEKR Automobile's official Weibo
Although Xiaomi Auto is a hot search permanent, ZEEKR has also held back its big move. Previously, it was planned to press the new ZEEKR 001 in the second half of the year, because Xiaomi SU7 was about to be launched, and the time was temporarily adjusted to February this year. In terms of price and configuration, not only "increase the volume but also reduce the price", a number of functions are still standard for the whole series.
At the press conference, An Conghui, president of ZEEKR Intelligent Technology, "I announce that the price of this configuration upgrade is 0 yuan" pushed the atmosphere to a climax, and some viewers called "let Lei Jun learn".
However, in a media interview after the press conference of the new ZEEKR 001, Lin Jinwen, vice president of ZEEKR Intelligent Technology, denied that the progress was advanced in order to target Xiaomi, and he believed that it is indeed necessary to learn from Xiaomi in terms of marketing, but Xiaomi needs to learn from ZEEKR in terms of technology and product definition.
Whether it is intentional or unintentional confrontation, Geely's three models relay before and after, occupying the pure electric car market of 170,000-330,000 yuan. And this price is also the hottest range of Xiaomi car pricing discussions before. These traditional car companies have their own advantages, when the tail of the new energy car companies fall one after another, the logic of consumers to choose a car has also undergone some changes, and the choice of at least a short period of time will not go bankrupt is also a part of buying a car.
Interestingly, just 6 hours before the Xiaomi car press conference tonight, Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding Group, was a guest in the Dongfang Selection live broadcast room and explored the Geely Satellite Super Factory with Yu Minhong.
National brand, the most important thing is attention, Xiaomi will inevitably be under pressure, but only when it really enters the era of car manufacturing smoothly from the era of mobile phones, it is a new stage for Lei Jun and Xiaomi.
The article is original by each Auto, and infringement must be investigated.