The road to entrepreneurship is long and difficult. For an enterprise, product quality means life. A seemingly insignificant "screw drop" may trigger a frenzy of public opinion, and entrepreneurs have to come forward to solve the siege in person.
This is exactly what Lei Jun and Xiaomi Auto have experienced recently. People take a "microscope" to scrutinize domestic car companies, which is an invisible pressure behind it, but more is the expectation and recognition of Made in China.
"Controversy" over product quality
A video went viral. The video shows a Xiaomi car dropping a white object under the wheel as it drove out at the delivery site. Although this may seem like a small "flaw", it immediately sparked a heated discussion online. Many speculated that it was a screw, questioned the manufacturing process of Xiaomi cars, and even pointed the finger at its quality.
In the face of such public pressure, Lei Jun had to personally "take action" to break the siege. He reposted the article on social media and explained that it was just a "material particle", not a screw. Lei Jun also complained that "everyone is looking at Xiaomi's new car with a magnifying glass", which brought him great pressure.
Behind the controversy is actually the strict requirements for domestic brands. On the one hand, domestic consumers have doubts about the quality of their own brands; On the other hand, people have higher expectations for Made in China.
The "microscope" scrutiny is a test for emerging domestic brands such as Xiaomi Auto.
China's intelligent manufacturing that has undergone the inspection of "magnifying glass".
In the face of public opinion, Lei Jun's explanation was understood and supported by most netizens. Some netizens said that "real gold is not afraid of refining fire", and I believe that there will be no problems with the quality of Xiaomi.
In fact, if domestic brands want to win the trust of consumers, they must withstand the scrutiny and test of various "magnifying glasses". As some netizens said, "Domestic Wei Xiaoli and Huawei Wenjie also came over like this." "
Huawei's phones were initially questioned, but they eventually won the approval of consumers for their outstanding quality and innovation. In the early days of 2011, the Xiaomi mobile phone was just a "thousand-yuan machine", but over the years it has become an industry leader with excellent cost performance.
At the same time, Geely Automobile has also been doing it step by step along the way. In 2002, Geely's removal of the title of "brother" was a major milestone. In 2022, Geely Boyue PRO won the C-segment SUV sales champion for 3 consecutive months with excellent quality.
Without exception, these brands have been questioned and criticized, but in the end they have won the market with practical actions and excellent quality. For them, a variety of "magnifying glass" scrutiny is the litmus test of quality and strength.
Looking to the future: import quality and domestic price
The "microscope" inspection is not only the only way for the brand to grow, but also promotes the quality improvement of the entire Chinese manufacturing. Today's domestic brands must not only have the quality level of imported brands, but also have the price advantage of domestic brands in order to occupy a place in the market.
Taking the automotive industry as an example, domestic models such as BYD Han and NIO ES8 not only have leading intelligent and new energy technologies, but also have been comparable to joint ventures and imported brands in terms of interior technology and materials. At the same time, localization keeps its prices within a reasonably acceptable range.
This combination of "imported quality + domestic price" will be the only way for the future development of domestic brands. Only under the "double-edged axe" advantage of quality and price can domestic brands truly win the favor of consumers.
As consumers, we should also let go of "prejudices" and objectively examine every domestic brand and product with a "magnifying glass" look.
In short, domestic brands should continue to make breakthroughs in quality and price, and only in this way can they win the trust of more consumers. At the same time, consumers should also support the development of domestic brands with a more open and inclusive attitude.
It is believed that in the near future, a "Made in China" brand with international standards will shine on the world stage.