On March 30, 2021, Lei Jun rocked the industry by announcing Xiaomi's foray into the automotive manufacturing sector during the company's Spring new product launch event. This decision not only marked Xiaomi's bold prediction for the future but also represented Lei Jun's personal reputation being fully invested.
Facing market skepticism and competitive pressures, Xiaomi, leveraging its deep accumulation in the field of smart hardware, embarked on the path of exploration towards intelligent automobiles.
The process of Xiaomi's entry into the automobile industry is fraught with challenges, not only tackling technical and production issues but also addressing speculation about its motives and prospects. Among these challenges, pricing has become a focal point. Some believe Xiaomi's cars will continue the brand's tradition of offering high value for money, while others argue that the costs and technical complexities of car manufacturing far exceed those of traditional consumer electronics, making pricing strategy a critical factor.
The launch of Xiaomi's cars not only showcases the company's innovation in design and technology but also signifies its official entry into the global automotive market competition. Specifically, the introduction of the Xiaomi SU7 will have a significant impact on the domestic electric vehicle market. Xiaomi's brand influence, user base, and intelligent ecosystem layout will serve as its competitive advantages. However, in the fiercely competitive automotive market, Xiaomi still faces numerous challengers. Positioning itself and overcoming technological and market barriers are key issues for Xiaomi's future development in the automotive sector.
In light of this, we have launched the "Three Years of Refinement by Lei Jun, Xiaomi's Car Dream Comes True" series, with this article focusing on the controversies and waves stirred up by Xiaomi's entry into the automotive industry.
When it comes to venturing into the car manufacturing industry compared to Lei Jun? Well, competitors are already lagging behind from the starting line. From the moment Xiaomi SU7 made its official debut, it's safe to say Xiaomi's foray into car manufacturing was already half successful. Xiaomi's venture into the automotive industry comes with many advantages that other manufacturers lack. Lei Jun's popularity among the masses, years of experience in the tech industry, robust financial backing, and a massive user base all contribute to Xiaomi's car venture being anything but low-key. Every move by Xiaomi's automotive division and Lei Jun himself is closely monitored and scrutinized by netizens.
Lei Jun pays homage to pioneers in the electric vehicle industry
Since announcing Xiaomi's entry into car manufacturing, Lei Jun has consistently emphasized how challenging the endeavor is. Prior to the official launch of Xiaomi SU7, Xiaomi held a technical conference for its automotive division on December 28, 2023. As a "newcomer" to the automotive industry, the day before the conference, Lei Jun made a bold move by securing numerous outdoor wall advertisements, paying tribute to Chinese electric vehicle pioneers such as BYD, NIO, Huawei, XPeng, and Li Auto.
Lei Jun himself also posted several Weibo posts, paying tribute to the aforementioned automakers. Some netizens say that Lei Jun and Xiaomi's action is to indicate their stance, expressing Xiaomi's respect as a newcomer in the domestic new energy vehicle industry towards the pioneers and seeking mutual development proactively.
However, the evaluations from the automakers on Xiaomi and Lei Jun's actions are polarized. BYD welcomed Xiaomi's participation, with its official Weibo reposting Xiaomi's post, saying, "Welcome @Xiaomi Automobile to join the Chinese new energy vehicle family! Together, we are the Chinese automobile industry." He Xiaopeng, Chairman of XPeng Motors, has a good personal relationship with Lei Jun, and he also responded positively to Lei Jun's tribute: "Warmly welcome Xiaomi to join the automotive family, applauding for Mr. Lei's new entrepreneurship, charging up for the spirit of striving for dreams. People with confidence and solutions will surely succeed in 2024."
Additionally, NIO, Li Auto, and CATL have all responded on Weibo, welcoming Xiaomi to the automotive family. Yang Xueliang, Vice President of Geely Automobile Group, said, "Go for it. Although not saluted, we still open our arms to welcome new players to the field."
However, regarding Lei Jun's multiple Weibo posts saluting various car manufacturers, Yang Xueliang also commented that Xiaomi's promotion "went too far." Some netizens said, "From the perspective of the automotive industry's promotion, it's indeed too much, but for smartphones, it's not even close, right?" Yang Xueliang responded, "So I can't understand."
Some netizens are getting tired of Xiaomi's big publicity stunt for its car, feeling that this wave of homage is a bit awkward. They believe that if Xiaomi really wants to pay tribute, they should do it with solid technology rather than word games.
However, regardless of whether netizens or competitors like it or not, Xiaomi's move has indeed had a great promotional effect, putting Xiaomi's car firmly in the spotlight. Many netizens now know that Xiaomi will host a car technology sharing event on December 28th.
Controversy over Xiaomi's car design
Before Xiaomi held its car technology sharing event, the Xiaomi SU7 had already been approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and its appearance had been made public. Two days later, at the 2023 Guangzhou Auto Show, when Huawei's Executive Director and CEO of the Consumer Business Group, as well as Chairman of the Intelligent Automotive Solutions Business Unit, was asked who is more handsome between Xiaomi's car and the Huawei Smart Selection S7, he replied, "Of course, ours is better looking. Haha, everyone says their own product is good."
According to Xiaomi's presentation at the launch event, the Xiaomi SU7 is positioned as a C-class high-performance eco-friendly sedan. It boasts the world's lowest aerodynamic drag coefficient of Cd 0.195, with dimensions of 4997mm in length, 1963mm in width, and 1440mm in height, with a wheelbase of 3000mm. It also features golden ratio proportions in terms of wheelbase ratio, height ratio, and width-to-height ratio. The SU7 adopts many elements of Xiaomi's family design language, including teardrop-shaped headlights, halo-shaped taillights, a 175° ripple curve, and semi-concealed door handles.
However, when netizens used Xiaomi's smartphone AI voice assistant Xiao Ai to scan official renders of the Xiaomi car, Xiao Ai mistook it for a Porsche. Scanning the Xiaomi SU7 with Xiao Ai yielded results indicating that the car would be released in April 2022, priced between 898,000 CNY and 1,838,000 CNY, and described it as an all-electric sedan from Porsche.
Former Vice President of OPPO Mobile, Shen Yiren, humorously remarked that while many car companies were being acknowledged, they forgot to pay homage to "Porsche." Additionally, netizens joked that Xiaomi's new car should be called "Porschemi."
However, Shen Yiren praised Xiaomi's decision to retain physical buttons, stating: "It's commendable to see Xiaomi's car keeping essential physical buttons and supporting Carplay, showing excellent product detail insight."
As for the size of the interior space, Xiaomi SU7 is set to be launched on March 28th. With the release approaching, the company is actively promoting the vehicle. On March 18th, Xiaomi's executives, including Lu Weibing, Partner and President of Xiaomi Group, President of International Business, and General Manager of Xiaomi Brand, drove the Xiaomi SU7 to the Qualcomm Snapdragon new product launch event. This move has stirred up debates about the car's interior space.
After the press conference, a photo of Lu Weibing sitting in the back row of the Xiaomi SU7 went viral online, sparking heated discussions. Many netizens noticed that the backseat space in the Xiaomi SU7 seemed a bit cramped. Concerned, Lu Weibing personally recorded a video response on the same day.
Lu Weibing stated: "This afternoon, when I was riding in the Xiaomi SU7, there was a photo circulating where the front seat was pulled all the way back, leading to some misunderstandings about the car's interior space. The perception of limited backseat space in the photo is due to the fact that the front seat was adjusted quite far back, making the backseat space seem small."
To further demonstrate, Lu Weibing showcased in the video. After adjusting the front seat to a comfortable position for himself, he entered the back row of the vehicle. He emphasized that the backseat space remained very spacious. The video was also retweeted by Lei Jun. Lei Jun mentioned that the Xiaomi SU7 is a C-class sedan, with more legroom in the second row compared to the Model S and standard BMW 5 Series, reassuring everyone not to worry.
However, some netizens believe that Lu Weibing "might as well not clarify." Lu Weibing sitting in the back seat does seem a bit cramped. After sitting down, the leg space looks like it's less than two fists, and the headroom also seems somewhat tight. Some netizens even liken Lu Weibing's sitting posture in the back seat to "sitting on a small stool."
In the end, it was Lei Jun who intervened. On March 21st, Lei Jun posted a video on social media platform introducing the front and rear trunk space and interior space of the Xiaomi SU7. He mentioned that even with his 1.81 meters height, the interior space is quite spacious.
Actually, the Xiaomi SU7 is positioned as a C-segment sedan, and with the body data there, the interior space shouldn't be too small. However, considering that the SU7 adopts a coupe-style design, the interior space is estimated not to be extremely spacious.
In conclusion, as the "last move" of Lei Jun's career, Xiaomi's car is like his "own son," and he has spared no effort. Xiaomi's car also naturally attracts attention. However, attention can be a double-edged sword. Excessive attention means that every detail of Xiaomi's car is scrutinized by netizens under a magnifying glass, and any slight change may cause a huge reaction.
But then again, controversy also brings attention. Just as Li Xiang, the CEO of Ideal Automobile, said: a product without attention is truly worse than death! With Lei Jun, this "super internet celebrity," covering it, the Xiaomi SU7 has already gained attention even before its official launch. Despite continuous controversies, it has already won at the starting line. The rest depends on the performance after the Xiaomi SU7 is launched on March 28th.
