On the evening of April 8, Zhiji Automobile's new model Zhiji L6 model was released, and Zhiji Automobile made a number of "face-fitting" comparisons with Xiaomi SU7 at the press conference. One of the parameter comparison charts shows that Xiaomi SU7 Max is a "front IGBT + rear SiC" motor, which caused serious dissatisfaction with Xiaomi cars.
A Xiaomi spokesperson said in a statement at 11 p.m. on April 8 that "Zhizhi Company mislabeled the key parameters of Xiaomi SU7 Max at tonight's press conference, causing an extremely serious negative impact." It is worth noting that the mistake of Zhiji Automobile also shamed SAIC, and a spokesman for Xiaomi criticized Zhiji Automobile and accused it of being a holding subsidiary of SAIC Group, which has such a fallacy, whether it is its lack of professional ability or intentional rumors and smearing, and said: "Zhiji Company's behavior cannot match the reputation of SAIC."
Subsequently, Liu Tao, co-CEO of Zhiji, apologized for this information error: "Due to the wrong research results of product information, there was an information error in the press conference. Xiaomi SU7 is the same as Zhiji L6, both front and rear motors use SIC silicon carbide modules, Xiaomi SU7 is indeed our very respected competitive teammate! Here, I sincerely apologize to Xiaomi Auto and everyone. ”
Regarding Liu Tao's apology, a spokesman for Xiaomi issued a statement saying that it does not accept personal downplay and informal apologies, and once again urged Zhiji to apologize. Xiaomi said that Zhiji has been harassing and smearing again and again recently. Wang Hua, general manager of the public relations department of Xiaomi Group, also commented, "This is our last urge, and it is also the last time to respond to this matter! We will take legal weapons to protect our own rights and interests."
At 0:47 a.m. on April 9, Zhiji Auto finally issued an apology statement. The front and rear motors of the Xiaomi SU7 Max Edition are both SIC silicon carbide modules, which are consistent with the technology used in the Zhiji L6 and are the top technical standards in the industry.
Pulling on Xiaomi SU7 but there was a mistake, SAIC was forced to lose people
On April 8th, at the Zhiji L6 press conference, Zhiji's senior management dissed Xiaomi cars many times in the press conference, from flashlights, external atmosphere lights, etc., to smart driving and other aspects. During this period, Zhiji Auto broke out a lot of "golden sentences", "you can't make a good design just by imitation", "real ecology does not pick mobile phone brands", "technology may not be in the hands of traffic"......
Interestingly, at the Xiaomi SU7 launch conference, although Lei Jun compared the Xiaomi SU7 to Porsche, Lei Jun admitted that the current Xiaomi SU7 is indeed inferior to Porsche. But Lei Jun also believes that it is a victory for Xiaomi to dare to compete with Porsche now. Give Xiaomi another five to ten years, and it will definitely beat Porsche.
The benchmarking methods between Zhiji Auto and Xiaomi do not seem to be consistent. The key thing is that when Zhiji Auto compared the Xiaomi SU7 with the Zhiji L6 separately, it wrote the product parameters of the Xiaomi SU7 a little wrong. Among them, the front and rear motors of the Xiaomi SU7 Max are silicon carbide, and this was listed as the former IGBT and rear SIC in Zhiji's launch conference. This has also sparked anger on Xiaomi's side.
In fact, Xiaomi sent three articles in a row late at night urging Zhiji Auto that it may not be a "small fuss", after all, the blog post of the Xiaomi spokesperson has explained some problems in the blog post of "Zhiji Company's recent repeated and repeated harassment and smearing" and "A large number of netizens have publicly reminded Zhiji Company about this fallacy, but Zhiji Company has not yet corrected it".
Prior to this, Liu Tao commented on Xiaomi SU7 many times on Weibo, and on April 6, Liu Tao suddenly questioned Xiaomi's car-making speed on Weibo. "2-3 years of complicated vehicle and parts testing and verification plan, no matter how to optimize it seems to be not enough, who knows how to do it so efficient and high-speed?"
It is worth noting that, judging from the post of the spokesperson of Xiaomi, SAIC was pulled into the water by Zhiji Automobile this wave. As one of the founders of China's automobile industry, SAIC has played an indispensable role in the history of the development of China's automobile industry, which has not only made an excellent model for Sino-foreign automobile industry joint ventures, but also shined in overseas markets with MG and other brands, and more forward-looking put forward the concept of "New Four Modernizations", which has profoundly affected the current transformation of the automobile industry.
However, as the "SAIC No. 1 Project", Zhiji Automobile made a "oolong" during the release of Zhiji L6, and was even directly pointed out by Xiaomi that it could not match the reputation of SAIC. SAIC, which has been driving steadily in the turbulent automotive industry for decades and has made countless achievements, does not know what to think at this time?
What is Xiaomi in a hurry?
Back to the Zhiji car face benchmarking Xiaomi car incident, many people will think that "Zhiji car is rubbing traffic", after all, the Xiaomi SU7, which was sold out at the beginning of the sale, is definitely the king of traffic in the automobile market. As for why you are so ruthless and do it against Xiaomi? You might as well take a look at the recent traffic trend of Zhiji Automobile.
According to SAIC's production and sales report, Zhiji sold only 2,000 units in February, compared to 5,001 units in January and 10,412 units in December last year...... In March this year, although the sales of Zhiji Automobile rebounded, it was only 3,000 units, which is still far less than the previous monthly sales of more than 10,000 units.
Among them, the "fist" model Zhiji LS6 launched by Zhiji Automobile last year plummeted after just three months on the market. According to the Chedi sales ranking, the Zhiji LS6 was close to the 10,000 mark in December 2023 and reached 9,878 units, but starting in 2024, the sales of this car have dropped sharply, with sales of 4,612 units in January and 1,491 units in February.
The editor of "Caiquan Club & Dao Ge Says Car" noticed that on the car quality network, complaints about Zhiji LS6 are not uncommon, including minor problems such as air conditioning not cooling, leakage of trunk glass and door panel, air conditioning compressor failure, abnormal noise, etc., as well as safety issues such as brake failure and vehicle collision caused by parking function. As a new car that has not been on the market for a long time, is this performance really reasonable?
It is true that the release of the Zhiji L6 is an opportunity for Zhiji Automobile, and at the same time, the "solid-state" and chassis technology brought by the Zhiji L6 also add a lot of luster to this model. And, in the process of "deep binding" with Xiaomi cars, no matter whether it is black or white red, Zhiji L6 is red anyway.
However, looking back at the development of Zhiji automobiles, is there still a small number of times that Zhiji cars have become popular? Zhiji L7, which has become famous by drifting, Zhiji LS7, which has made a sensation by relying on novel configurations such as half-spoke steering wheel and IMAX-level driving vision, and Zhiji LS6, which is known as "lifting the table", which model has not been a sensation? However, according to the February sales ranking released by Chedi, Zhiji L7 sold 114 units in the month, Zhiji LS7 sold 395 units in the month, and Zhiji LS6 sold 1,491 units in the month......
Since the 50s of the last century, SAIC Group, which has grown up step by step without the concepts of "Internet celebrity" and "traffic", is it not worth referring to for some new brands?