Every reporter Li Xing and every editor Sun Lei
As a Xiaomi SU7 in Gulf Blue slowly docked in front of the building of the internal delivery center of Xiaomi's car factory, Lei Jun, chairman of Xiaomi Group, also started a live broadcast on Douyin.
"It's been a long time since I've done a live broadcast, and the live broadcast room has prepared a little gift for everyone, including mugs and car models of the same color as SU7. On April 18, Lei Jun said that this live broadcast was to "talk about the 20 days since Xiaomi SU7 went on sale" with netizens.
Image source: Screenshot of Lei Jun's live broadcast room on Douyin
In this live broadcast, Lei Jun not only replied to hot topics such as Xiaomi SU7 orders exceeding expectations, offline store laying, and delivery that netizens were concerned about, but also responded to rumors such as his 700 points in the college entrance examination and imitation of Tesla CEO Musk.
"I'm not the top student in the college entrance examination, I didn't score 700 points in the college entrance examination, and I was not most disappointed when I only had a cold 4 billion. When they said that I was the first male protagonist of Shuangwen, I was uncomfortable. Lei Jun said, "Success in life does not depend on cool writing, but on diligence, hard work, opportunities, and the help of nobles." ”
"Sales are three to five times higher than expected"
Lei Jun's live broadcast began with a visit to Xiaomi's internal delivery center in the Beijing Economic Development Zone.
During the live broadcast, Lei Jun greeted the owner of the car that was being delivered that day, and took the initiative to take a photo with the car owner. In addition, Lei Jun revealed that the Xiaomi SU7 founding version of the model has been delivered, and the Xiaomi SU7 standard version and Pro version have been delivered in Beijing and Shenzhen on April 18, 12 days ahead of the planned delivery time.
According to the plan, the Xiaomi SU7 standard version and Max version are expected to start delivery at the end of April, and the Pro version is expected to start delivery from the end of May. "Many people urged us to deliver faster, and also said that Mr. Lei, can you go to the factory to make screws. I would also like to take this opportunity to tell you that our factory is a modern factory, and the main processes are fully automated production. In fact, when I go to make screws, it is not as fast as machine production, which is purely adding to the chaos. Lei Jun said.
On April 16, Xiaomi Auto said that the Xiaomi Auto Factory is currently in the production ramp-up stage. At the beginning of production, the production capacity and material preparation rhythm are still in the process of being increased. The company has mobilized all its supply partners to increase production capacity and accelerate delivery efficiency. "Xiaomi Auto is making every effort to improve the manufacturing and delivery process, striving to get users to mention the car earlier. Lei Jun said that the Xiaomi SU7 delivery may be advanced, and users and friends will find that the waiting time is shortening.
Image source: Photo by reporter Zhang Jian (data map)
In addition, Lei Jun said: "The Xiaomi SU7 was a big hit when it was launched, and the sales volume was three to five times higher than expected, which made me scared." Xiaomi SU7 triggered a national test after it was launched, and almost every detail was seen with a magnifying glass, but the final result was good, and Xiaomi SU7 carried it down. ”
Regarding the question asked by netizens "whether Xiaomi Auto has been successful", Lei Jun replied that it is too early to talk about whether Xiaomi Auto is successful, but the first stage is considered a success. "The car manufacturing cycle is relatively long, Xiaomi is a long-term company, and now we need to grasp the quality of the car and serve customers well. Our goal is to become one of the top five automakers in the world through 15 to 20 years of hard work. Lei Jun said.
Regarding the laying of Xiaomi Auto's offline stores, which netizens are most concerned about, Lei Jun told netizens not to worry, Xiaomi Auto is speeding up its layout. "Xiaomi's automotive delivery centers currently cover 29 cities across the country, covering the main markets for new energy vehicles. By the end of this year, Xiaomi car delivery centers will cover 40 cities. Lei Jun said.
According to Lei Jun, Xiaomi Auto will bring all the color models of Xiaomi SU7 to the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, and the latest channel layout information of Xiaomi Auto will be announced at that time.
Response to "dress like Jobs and Musk"
In this live broadcast, Lei Jun also responded to the online ridicule that he was dressed to imitate Musk at the Xiaomi press conference. "Some time ago, everyone said that I imitated Musk in my dress, and I was actually quite depressed, because there are only so many colors of men's suits, and I accidentally hit the shirt, if I want to imitate Musk, I can actually imitate it more likely. Lei Jun said.
Image source: Sina Weibo (@雷军)
"Musk is a very amazing entrepreneur, and Tesla is a great company that has made an epoch in the history of the automotive industry," Lei said. So, please don't compare me and Musk, I don't think the two of us do exactly the same thing, it's not particularly easy to compare. ”
Lei Jun said that everyone can't treat Xiaomi as a car factory, and Xiaomi's strategy is to have a whole ecology of people, cars, and homes. Xiaomi not only makes cars, but also makes mobile phones, and also makes various digital products. Xiaomi's core is actually a technology company, focusing on scientific and technological innovation. "One thing is the same, that is, we, like Musk, have helped popularize technology and promote the progress of this society. Lei Jun said.
It is worth noting that the dress in which Lei Jun gave a speech on stage when he made a mobile phone was also considered by the outside world to be imitating Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, and jokingly called him "Rebus". In this regard, Lei Jun called it a "false injustice" during the live broadcast. "At that time, I didn't even think about changing clothes at the development conference, so I went on stage wearing the usual clothes of an engineer, and if I wanted to imitate Jobs, I could 'cosplay' more like. Lei Jun said.
Regarding whether Lei Jun will continue to make mobile phones, Lei Jun replied: "Mobile phones are the foundation of Xiaomi's life, although most of my energy is currently on building cars, but I still devote one-third of my energy to the mobile phone business." ”
However, Lei Jun said that in principle, he will not appear on the press conference of Xiaomi mobile phones again, and will go to the platform if necessary. "My main focus is on product development. Lei Jun said that Xiaomi's goal in the new decade is to become a new generation of global hard-core technology leader.
Lei Jun also emphasized many times during the live broadcast that Xiaomi Auto is the last entrepreneurship in his life, and his goal is to do a good job in Mi Auto. "It's really hard to build a car, it takes three years to make a car. Lei Jun said frankly, "I was an investor before, but when I really started to do it, I found that building a car was much more difficult and tiring than I imagined." ”
Regarding the planning of Xiaomi's car product type that netizens are most concerned about, Lei Jun repeatedly replied "confidential". However, Lei Jun made it clear that Xiaomi cars will not make off-road vehicles for the time being. "At the moment, we are mainly concentrating on making a good Xiaomi SU7. Only by focusing can we really do a good job of the product, and wanting to do everything may not be able to do it well. Lei Jun thinks.
The car circle bigwigs "collectively" started a live broadcast
The reporter of "Daily Economic News" found that before Lei Jun drove Xiaomi SU7 to enter the official live broadcast, the number of viewers in the live broadcast room had exceeded 100,000, and the number of likes exceeded 3.37 million. At the end of the live broadcast, the cumulative number of likes in the live broadcast room was as high as 190 million, which pushed the traffic of Lei Jun and Xiaomi Auto to a new height.
In fact, since entering 2024, the "involution" of the auto market is no longer limited to volume price and volume technology, but has begun to roll traffic. In addition to Li Bin, chairman of Weilai, who has its own traffic, after the premiere, Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding Group, Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motor, Yin Tongyue, chairman of Chery Holding Group, and other automobile "veterans" also walked into the live broadcast room from behind the scenes.
Image source: Screenshot of Great Wall Motor's official Weibo live broadcast
On the evening of March 14, Li Bin made his live broadcast debut on the Douyin platform; on March 26, Daniel Zhang, co-founder and CEO of Nezha Automobile, and Zhou Hongyi, founder of 360 Group, jointly broadcast live; on March 28, Li Shufu and Yu Minhong, founder of New Oriental, started an online live broadcast at Geely Satellite Super Factory; on April 14, Yin Tongyue live-streamed to test the long-distance high-speed high-end intelligent driving ability of Star Era ET; on April 15, Wei Jianjun made his live broadcast debut to test Great Wall Motor's full-scene NOA. On the same day, Baidu CEO Robin Li and Jiyue Automobile CEO Xia Yiping also appeared in the live broadcast room to experience Baidu's various AI functions on Jiyue 01.
After a 4-hour live broadcast, Yin Tongyue joked to himself in front of the camera: "This (live broadcast) is also using new Internet thinking, learning from Yu Chengdong (Chairman of Huawei Intelligent Vehicle Solution BU), learning from Lei Jun, and personally explaining and introducing, which also forced me, an old man in his sixties, to come out." ”
In Lei Jun's live broadcast, he also connected with Wei Jianjun. Regarding Lei Jun's question about "the feeling of the first live broadcast", Wei Jianjun admitted that he was very nervous. However, Wei Jianjun also said that the company's live broadcast on the platform to interact with netizens is itself a reflection of self-confidence and a more realistic reflection of the company's situation. In fact, the more they avoid it, the less the public and netizens will understand the company.