"I'm very proud! Ten years ago, twenty years ago, didn't we just look at international booths and watch the works of foreign car companies learn little by little?"
Xiaomi Auto has been on the market for a full month. Recently, the booth of Xiaomi Auto at the Beijing Auto Show was crowded, and many staff members from foreign car companies came to observe and even picked up a small notebook to record. In this regard, Lei Jun admitted that he was very proud.
△ Xiaomi Auto's booth
Why did you choose an electric car for the "last venture"? What is the biggest problem encountered by Xiaomi in the process of building a car? On the 28th, CCTV News "China's Economic Gravitational Field" interviewed Lei Jun live and shared his heartfelt words about "the last venture".
"Xiaomi cars
To go to the top five in the world"
- Why did you enter the field of car manufacturing?
During the live broadcast, Lei Jun said that he captured this trend when smart electric vehicles were just emerging. In the past few years, Xiaomi has invested in nearly 100 automotive supply chains, all of which are advanced manufacturers in various fields.
Lei Jun said that a few years ago, the U.S. government blacklisted Xiaomi, and he began to research electric vehicles because he was worried about the impact on the company's mobile phone business. "After three months of research, I decided that we must make electric vehicles, and the integration of electric vehicles and mobile phones can be integrated, and I think this is an advantage for Xiaomi. ”
However, looking at the domestic and international markets, Xiaomi is an out-and-out "latecomer" in the field of car manufacturing.
Lei Jun, who once sighed "Standing on the tuyere, pigs can fly", does not feel that Xiaomi has missed the opportunity to build a car, he believes that the car is a century-old track, as long as you want to do it, it is never too late.
△ Lei Jun test drove a Xiaomi car in the obstacle course
- "Xiaomi cars are going to the top five in the world"
From the official entry into the car in 2021 to the launch of the first car, it took Xiaomi three years. Looking back on the whole process, Lei Jun feels that the biggest difficulty is to "be the light of domestic products and make a dream car". In Lei Jun's view, what China needs at present is not a catch-up, but a "seed player" who can promote the rise of the domestic auto industry.
Lei Jun set a "goal of climbing Mount Everest": "If you don't get to the top five in the world, you basically won't be able to survive, so we have reached an internal consensus to go to the top five in the world." ”
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To this end, Lei Jun set the principle of "keeping the right and surprising", learning from advanced companies to ensure that the first car can be done well. Xiaomi spent two years building the factory and invested 3,400 engineers in the first car, investing more than 10 billion yuan in R&D.
Lei Jun said that the success of Xiaomi's first car has exceeded his expectations, and the next step is to strive to achieve the goal of "delivering 100,000 cars by the end of the year".
△ Xiaomi factory
"We are not afraid of volumes
Not afraid of price wars"
- "We are not afraid of rolls"
Lei Jun said frankly that at present, in the field of pure electric vehicles, the vast majority of companies are losing money, and Xiaomi is no exception. Enterprises that have lost a lot may lose more than 100,000 yuan for a single car, and 40,000 or 50,000 yuan for a car that has lost less. Lei Jun was mentally prepared at the beginning of car building: "We are not afraid of volumes, nor are we afraid of price wars." ”
But he also knows that the strategy of relying solely on price wars and losing money to attract users will not last long. "We have to really do a good job of the car, so that the people are willing to buy it. Some people on the Internet have called for Xiaomi cars to sell for 99,000 yuan and 149,000 yuan, but today's pricing actually loses a lot of money. ”
After Xiaomi entered the new energy car, many friends have cut prices, Lei Jun said that this is actually in his expectation, the price war within a reasonable range is the only way to compete in the market, and every industry has gone through this step to gradually standardize.
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- Lei Jun responded to the question of "imitating Porsche".
After the release of the new car, many netizens questioned Xiaomi for plagiarizing Porsche's design. In this regard, Lei Jun said: "Putting down your body and learning from excellent companies is also the only way for Xiaomi to grow." ”
Lei Jun said that on the basis of learning, Xiaomi cars have also brought many surprises to consumers, such as Xiaomi cars have put a lot of effort into sun protection and designed scientific and reasonable storage spaces.
Lei Jun who is "smooth sailing".
In fact, he is a person who is very afraid of losing
- "I'm a person who is very afraid of losing"
In the eyes of many netizens, Lei Jun has a smooth life experience:
- In 1987, Lei Jun was admitted to the Department of Computer Science of Wuhan University. During his four years of college, he basically supported himself by scholarships and helping teachers with projects;
- After graduating from Wuhan University, he and his friends founded Kingsoft Company to develop WPS software, and later founded Joy.com, which mainly sells books and audio-visual products.
- On April 6, 2010, he and more than a dozen colleagues started Xiaomi ...... by drinking a bowl of millet porridge together in an inconspicuous office in Zhongguancun, Beijing
Lei Jun admits that he "lost very little" in the process of starting a business, because he was afraid of losing. He said that he is a relatively conservative person, so he thinks more about risks and problems.
This fear of losing also pushes him to keep moving forward. "Actually, I'm a social phobia, and I don't want to stand in front of the stage. However, because of the pressure of performance, I was afraid of disappointing shareholders, employees and partners, so I had to come to the stage. I still have a lot of little moves on stage that I'm trying to overcome. ”
- "Young people's self-confidence is the most important thing"
Last year, Lei Jun donated 1.3 billion yuan to his alma mater, Wuhan University, which was also the largest personal cash donation from an alumnus in China.
Lei Jun said that when he was in school, he lived on a scholarship for a long time. At that time, he vowed to return it 10,000 times in the future. "I donate this money more to fulfill my wishes, and I also hope to support the scientific progress of Wuhan University and train more good programmers and engineers. ”
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Three years ago, when Lei Jun planned to build a car, he was not sure whether he would succeed. But now, the success of Xiaomi Auto has made him even more convinced of the power of "going all out". He hoped that the vast number of young people would dare to try and work hard like him. "I hope everyone will be more confident and move forward. If you don't go to it, you won't get results, and if you try it, it might be different!"
▌本文来源：央视新闻微信公众号（ID：cctvnewscenter）
Producer/Liu Xin, Xi Luoxi
Producer/Wang Yu, Shang Jian, Li Wenting
Planning / Xu Mengzhe Li Jiyan
Editor-in-Chief/Yuan Bin, Wu Tao
WeChat Editor/Li Juan
Cooperation/Beijing Terminus