After the launch conference of Xiaomi cars on March 28, the entire Internet seems to have become a battlefield for Lei Jun and Xiaomi cars.
Some people say that the intelligent driving of Xiaomi cars is not as good as asking the world and Xiaopeng, but it can't be rolled up by Geely Krypton, and the research and development has been thrown out of three streets by BYD, as if Xiaomi cars are nothing, only relying on marketing.
Of course, there are also electric car manufacturers that are rubbing Xiaomi's popularity.
However, there are also many voices praising Xiaomi Auto and Lei Jun.
Mishiro Fukao, chief researcher at Itochu's general research institute, said that he was shocked that the launch of Xiaomi cars on March 28 was just like when Steve Jobs released the first-generation iPhone.
For Xiaomi cars, they may be ruined or reputational, but Lei Jun himself is mostly affirmed on the Internet.
At the press conference, Lei Jun kept asking the audience "Is it okay" and "Is it okay".
After the introduction, he also solemnly saluted: "If we don't do well, please spray lightly, I will bow to everyone." ”
Lei Jun asked everyone to tap and spray, and bow to everyone
After the press conference, Lei Jun went to the offline store to help the car owner open the door and take a group photo together.
Lei Jun has a humble posture and good popularity, and looks like "harmless to humans and animals".
He may really be the "leading brother" who is most likely to rectify the electric vehicle industry at present.
"The word thunder is electrified, and the word military is car. ”
In the hearts of many people, Lei Jun is the most suitable person to build a car.
But China's early electric vehicle industry was frustrating.
In 2014, with the support of national policies, the electric vehicle track became a "big gold mine".
rentiers also moved by the wind.
The first group of car factory owners made a fortune on the wool of the policy, which led to a large number of micro two-seaters that could not meet the normal travel requirements were put into the market.
These people are also full of all kinds of rhetoric.
Founded in 2014, the founder of Singularity Automobile, Shen Haiyin, once packaged himself as a combination of Musk and Lei Jun.
In his words, it is necessary to "build a Chinese Tesla with the Xiaomi model" and "condense the configuration of 500,000 yuan into an SUV of 200,000-300,000 yuan".
Founder of Singularity Automobile, Shen Haiyin
But he burned 17 billion in 5 years, and only built an electric two-wheeler and left the market miserably.
The operation of many new energy first-generation enterprises is like a race against time, as long as there are bulls to brag, bankruptcy will not be able to catch up with them.
Looking at the domestic market, local governments have subsidized lavishly, and abroad, Tesla has swept the international market.
China's new energy industry should not be so chaotic all the time.
Lei Jun, who has been in the investment circle for 30 years, is also in action.
He always said, "I can invest some money and let some capable people do these interesting ideas, so that they can turn new ideas into reality little by little." ”
In April 2014, as an investor, Lei Jun met with more than 20 entrepreneurs a year, and it is said that he invested $50 million in Li Bin.
He said: "At that time, there were hundreds of Internet car manufacturing teams in China, and when I talked about making cars, it felt like I was cheating money, and I thought that Li Bin was also a liar." ”
Li Bin is naturally not a liar, and his NIO has become a representative of China's new car-making forces.
NIO's EP9 supercar
"Wei (Lai) Xiao (Peng) Li (Think)" is one of the three major new car-making forces in China.
Lei Jun also invested in Xpeng.
At that time, Lei Jun not only took out 400 million US dollars, but also reminded the founder He Xiaopeng: "We must achieve an artistic balance between hardware, software, and services." ”
Lei Jun and He Xiaopeng
Later, Lei Jun finally decided to build a car by himself.
As early as 2013, Lei Jun visited Musk, and he asked an important question: "10 years ago, why did you make Tesla?"
Musk said: "I never felt like it was a good opportunity because the chances of failure were much greater than success. But I think humans are going to do this sooner or later, and I don't want to wait. ”
Lei Jun posted a photo of himself and Musk
This sentence has become a link between Musk and Lei Jun, and they have to do the right thing beyond interests.
In October 2022, Lei Jun commented on social platforms: "Electric vehicles are consumer electronics, and the new energy industry should also be a consumer electronics industry, not a machinery industry. ”
Lei Jun, who crossed the river with his peers, has explored the essence of the new energy industry:
Cars will be everyday necessities, even consumables.
The production and sales model of traditional automobiles will no longer be suitable for the new energy industry, and a change is coming.
Lei Jun boldly predicted: "I believe that when the electric vehicle industry matures, the world's top five brands will occupy more than 80% of the market share." In other words, the only way for Xiaomi to succeed is to make it into the top five, with more than 10 million units shipped annually, and the competition will be cutthroat. ”
Lei Jun was interviewed by CCTV's "Face to Face" program and talked about Xiaomi's car manufacturing
Screenshot source: CCTV "Face to Face" program
In order to become the top 5 in the world, Lei Jun has done three major things.
The first is to attract talents.
In June 2021, Xiaomi released recruitment information on its official website for positions such as ultrasonic radar algorithm and laser point cloud algorithm.
This is probably the most competitive recruitment in the history of China's electric vehicle industry.
Because out of more than 20,000 resumes, Xiaomi Auto only selected 300 people.
In July of the same year, Lei Jun directly used his Weibo account to recruit 500 technical elites and once again expanded to the L4 autonomous driving department of the car-making team.
Later, someone discovered that Lei Jun's name faded out of many of Xiaomi's affiliated companies.
He resigned as chairman of Xiaomi Electronics Software, and at the same time, director Lin Bin and legal person Hong Feng both withdrew from Xiaomi Electronics Software.
Lei Jun is all in Xiaomi Automobile, and the large-scale personnel transfer has been on the hot search on Weibo, attracting a large number of netizens to watch.
Wang Hua, general manager of Xiaomi's public relations department, gave a very domineering explanation: Lei Jun will devote more energy to the car-making business, "I don't care about what I can do." ”
Without distractions, resolutely build a car, and the public's expectations are full.
The last big move is "buy, buy, buy".
In June 2021, Xiaomi invested in Hesai Technology, a leading company in the field of lidar, and two months later, Xiaomi acquired Shendong Technology, a company that does autonomous driving.
Hesai Technology's LiDAR test vehicle
Tianmu Pioneer, a new nano-silicon carbon anode material for lithium-ion batteries, has a list of investment companies in the Xiaomi Yangtze River Industrial Fund, which is funded by Lei Jun.
Since deciding to build a car, Lei Jun has successively invested in almost half of the suppliers in the new energy vehicle industry.
Among them, Suzhou Aoyix, which makes electronic and electronic control products, IDRIVERPLUS and Momenta, which develop autonomous driving systems, and Beixing, which makes lidar, and so on.
Lei Jun's siege strategy seems radical and crazy, but it looks steady and rhythmic.
In August 2023, Xiaomi obtained the production qualification of the National Development and Reform Commission with the help of the Beijing Municipal Government.
The time, place, and people are all together, just waiting for the car.
But if you want to say that Lei Jun just makes and sells cars, it is very wrong.
The rapid development of any enterprise is inseparable from the prosperity of the industry.
When the smartphone industry was about to reach its peak, Apple chose artificial intelligence, and Lei Jun chose electric vehicles for Xiaomi.
This is certainly a wise choice.
In November 2023, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China exceeded one million units for the first time, accounting for 34.5% of the market.
Changes in the share of Chinese brand cars in the mid-to-high-end market
Data source: terminal sales of new energy passenger vehicles Chart: Autohome
To build a good car, you have to work with the industry!
The first step is to raise the "low line" of the industry.
The focus is on the product and the price.
Lei Jun always said: "Good products that touch people's hearts and have a good price will be very popular no matter where they are." ”
New energy vehicles are an emerging industry, and it is hellish difficulty to make money by relying on honest character.
First of all, while Lei Jun is increasing the scale of sales, he must not accidentally hurt friendly troops.
At the beginning, when Xiaomi wanted to build a car, there was speculation that Lei Jun would launch cars for 99,000 yuan and 199,000 yuan, but Lei Jun denied such prices in advance.
In China's new energy vehicle market, there are not no cars with less than 100,000 yuan.
In February this year, BYD launched the 79,800 yuan Qin PLUS Glory Edition, followed by SAIC-GM-Wuling lowered the original 105,800 yuan "Wuling Starlight 150" price to 99,800 yuan.
Xiaomi does not make this kind of product, but sets the price of the SU7 standard version at 215,900 yuan, which in itself is a signal to the industry: Xiaomi is going to build a car, not to engage in price fighting.
But the revolution in cost performance is imperative.
On April 1, the fourth day after the release of SU7, the price of the "new M7 entry-level model" was directly reduced by 20,000 yuan, adjusted to 229,800 yuan.
The price of the M7 is close to that of Xiaomi SU7, which in the eyes of some people is to compete with Xiaomi for the market.
But if you stand from the perspective of consumers, you will find that for the same money, everyone can buy both SU7 and Huawei Wenjie.
Huawei's action of asking the world just verifies the effectiveness of Lei Jun's price strategy.
It is necessary not only to maintain friendly forces, but also to ensure the interests of upstream enterprises.
Before the official announcement of the car, Lei Jun had invested in or acquired many companies in the industrial chain, with the main purpose of controlling the supply chain.
This is quite a complex and high-level operation, and one mistake will lose the whole game.
On the one hand, Lei Jun has invested in enough companies, and they are each other's credit guarantees, no matter whether Lei Jun can sell the car within the scheduled time, it will not affect the production progress of these factories, even if Lei Jun's first car hits the street, it will not delay the next car to fill the position.
This is equivalent to an insurance policy for Xiaomi cars.
From another point of view, if Xiaomi Auto loses money, as long as the upstream company invested by Lei Jun makes money, it can also turn around quickly, resolve risks, and ensure the safety of the industrial chain.
Furthermore, under such an industrial chain structure, the entire supply chain environment of the industry can be improved, and companies with real volume technology can spiral up to the sky with Xiaomi, while those companies that only care about marketing and do not focus on business will eventually be eliminated.
The cleaner the industry, the more consumers benefit.
In the future, people who can't afford to buy a Porsche will be able to buy China's Xiaomi, as well as similar competitors.
Therefore, this revolution of Lei Jun must be won.
Of course, his peers also want him to win beautifully.
After all, even the Japanese admit that the performance of Xiaomi cars surpasses Tesla, Porsche, but for less than half the price.