Who is 'containing' Xiaomi Motors?

Author | Zhou Yongliang

Editor | Jingyu

Xiaomi’s first car has not yet been unveiled, but Jokes about it are flying all over the place.

"Don't fight Mr. Lei anymore, things are going smoothly outside" and "Xiaomi hasn't developed yet, BYD is already at the forefront", which seems to give people a sense that Xiaomi is facing "challenges" It feels like many netizens are also nervous about the upcoming Xiaomi SU7.

These jokes show the intensity of price competition in the automotive industry, as well as everyone’s attention and expectations for Xiaomi’s first car. At the beginning of 2024, BYD took the lead in launching a price war and launched the "Glory Edition" of eight main models, with the largest price reduction exceeding 30,000 yuan. This move immediately caused an uproar in the auto market, and major brands responded one after another and joined the price war. This fierce price war not only benefits consumers, but also brings vitality to the entire automobile market. Various manufacturers are working hard to provide more competitive products and prices to attract more consumers

followed , more than 10 brands such as Tesla, Geely, Weilai, Leapao, and Avita have also launched discounts of varying degrees, with the highest discount reaching 50,000 yuan.

Since the first technology conference was held last year, the popularity of Xiaomi cars has remained high. According to data released by Weibo, among the top ten most searched brands in the automobile industry in the second half of 2023, Xiaomi SU7 ranked first with 53 hot searches, far exceeding other brands. This number is surprising, especially considering that Xiaomi Motors only released a "technical conference" and did not launch an actual product. This shows Xiaomi's huge appeal and potential in the market.

So, are there really friends who are "containing" Xiaomi? Why is there so much competition and discussion in the market before Xiaomi officially launches its product?

01, "Containment" Xiaomi SU7

In the field of mobile phones, the essence of Xiaomi is cost-effectiveness.

In 2010, Xiaomi, a newly established company, advertised: Young people’s first mobile phone. In August 2011, the first generation of Xiaomi mobile phones was officially released, priced at 1,999 yuan, and gained great popularity in the market. Subsequently, Xiaomi became the "breakthrough" in popularizing smartphones, driving the prosperity of China's mobile Internet.

When Xiaomi announced its entry into the automotive field, the public generally expected Xiaomi to continue its strategy in the mobile phone field, provide the younger generation with affordable and technologically advanced cars, and become the "first choice for young people" in their minds. a car".

So, regarding the price of Xiaomi SU7, the outside world has been Full of expectations and attention. Although Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi, has made it clear that the price of Xiaomi SU7 will not be 99,000, 149,000, or 199,000, which is "a bit expensive," but such a statement has not stopped the outside world from speculating on the price of Xiaomi SU7. It has even triggered a series of rumors and refutations, making the price of Xiaomi SU7 a hot topic from time to time.

The latest news is that Xiaomi Motors will launch its first car in March and deliver it in April. It is expected to produce about 2,000 vehicles in the first quarter, with an output value of 400 million yuan. Excluding taxes and fees, the ex-factory price of Xiaomi's first car is about 200,000 yuan. In response, a spokesperson for Xiaomi Auto refuted the rumors on Weibo, saying that after detailed inquiries, this information was completely untrue.

At the same time, more and more friends regard Xiaomi as a potential rival, giving people a feeling of "besieging" Xiaomi Automobile. Especially recently, Geely has deployed a number of models in the price range of 150,000 to 300,000 yuan, which overlaps with the price range of Xiaomi SU7. In addition, Geely executives are also tit-for-tat with Xiaomi on social platforms, which aggravates this speculation.

For example, the Ji Krypton 007, which will be launched in December 2023, is priced at 209,900-299,900 yuan; the Geely Galaxy E8, which will be launched in January 2024, is priced at 175,800-228,800 yuan. The facelifted Jikrypton 001, which was launched on February 27, is priced at 269,000-329,000 yuan. In addition, Lynk & Co 07EM-P and Extreme 07 will also be launched this year, with prices yet to be determined.

The market positioning of these five Geely products is roughly the same as that of Xiaomi SU7. They are both medium and large electric sedans, focusing on selling points such as sports handling, human-computer interaction and intelligent driving. They are very similar to Xiaomi SU7. This gives a close-fitting feeling and seems to put some pressure on the pricing of Xiaomi SU7, which has not yet been delivered.

Among them, the climax of this public opinion war appeared recently when Ji Krypton announced the official launch of the mid-term facelift 001. During the live broadcast of Jikrypton's press conference, netizens had a heated discussion around Jikrypton 001 and Xiaomi Motors, and even commented "Let Lei Jun learn from it."

At the same time, in the interview after the press conference, Lin Jinwen, vice president of Jikrypton Intelligent Technology, said when talking about Xiaomi, Jikrypton should learn from Xiaomi in terms of marketing, and Xiaomi should imitate Jikrypton in terms of technology and products. Learning, andThe composition of Xiaomi Auto’s main technical members is indeed a “tribute” to Ji Krypton.

He also said that previous rumors on the Internet that Xiaomi Motors poached Geely Automobile Research Institute Director Hu Zhengnan and the R&D team, leading to Geely's "encirclement and suppression", were purely nonsense.

However, the plot of this "containment" continues to be played out, and many netizens create short videos based on the plot. Subsequently, some people also received complaints from Xiaomi. On February 29, self-media blogger "Dong Laosi Shuo Che" posted a video saying that he had received an infringement complaint from Xiaomi because he repeatedly called Xiaomi Chairman and CEO Lei Jun "Jun'er" in the video. It deletes related videos.

According to the screenshots of the complaint, multiple videos posted by the blogger were complained about for allegedly infringing on the right of reputation (enterprise). The reason for the complaint was that the author had long used "jun'er" to refer to the leaders of Xiaomi Company, through joking techniques. Ridiculing and ridiculing Xiaomi leaders.

02, Enter the battleground for military strategists

In fact, it is not that the friends are deliberately targeting Xiaomi, but the price of Xiaomi SU7 The range, that is, the market between 200,000 and 300,000 yuan, is the most involuted and cruel battlefield.

In addition to the Geely models mentioned above, there are also many new energy sedans in this price range that have already occupied a place in the market, such as Tesla's Model 3 and BYD's Hanhe. Seal, Xpeng P7, etc. In addition, there are some new players that have recently entered the market, such as Avita 12, Intelligent World S7, Star Age ES, etc.

The reason why many players are pouring in is mainly because the penetration rate of new energy in this market segment is still not high. In the range of 200,000 yuan to 300,000 yuan, the barriers for joint venture brands are still very strong. This has been a strong market for joint venture fuel vehicles for many years, and it has still maintained a market share of more than 50% in three years.

According to data, as of 2023, in the mid-size sedan sales rankings, Toyota Camry and Honda Accord occupy the top two positions in the B-class car market. Among the top ten, only Tesla Model 3 and BYD Seal are new energy models, and the remaining eight are traditional fuel vehicles, showing that the market penetration rate of new energy in the mid-level car field has yet to be reached promote.

Compared with SUVs, the penetration rate of new energy sources for cars is even slower. During the Guangzhou Auto Show last year, Jikrypton CEO An Conghui said, "After entering the electric era, the evolution speed of sedans has obviously lagged behind SUVs and MPVs. Especially pure electric sedans with more than 200,000 yuan are the best-selling ones today. Okay, it’s still an old car that has been released for nearly 8 years."

In addition, this market is large enough and has enough potential. Li Bin once said, "In the market of 200,000 to 300,000 yuan, there is an opportunity to produce a model with a monthly sales volume of 50,000 to 60,000 units." Some analysts believe that the final battle between Chinese brands and mainstream joint venture brands will definitely It will happen in the 200,000-300,000 yuan market.

Xiaomi’s first car has entered a highly competitive market segment, which makes many people worry about Xiaomi.

In addition, in many imaginations, Xiaomi, when it crosses over from consumer electronics to build cars, should first focus on intelligence, such as smart cockpits and smart driving. But what I am more worried about is the manufacturing process. Cars are complex products composed of a large number of parts and systems, involving multiple upstream suppliers and partners, and have extremely high quality requirements. For companies that have just entered the industry, it is a big challenge to be able to produce a qualified product in the early stage.

Judging from the news from previous technology conferences, Xiaomi not only It only focuses on intelligence, and is also deeply involved in electric drives, electronics and electrical, and intelligent manufacturing. In these aspects, Xiaomi has done very well.

During the recent two sessions, Lei Jun, chairman of Xiaomi Group, prepared four proposals for submission to the conference, two of which include further standardizing the safe application of intelligent driving products; and increasing support for intelligent manufacturing and accelerating the integration of advanced technologies. develop.

Lei Jun said at last year’s Xiaomi Auto Technology Conference that his goal is to make Xiaomi one of the top five automakers in the world through 15 to 20 years of hard work. The strategic vision and entrepreneurial resilience he has demonstrated in multiple entrepreneurial fields make it impossible for people to ignore Xiaomi's existence.

Interestingly, according to previous disclosures by Jikrypton executives, the much-anticipated Xiaomi car launch conference, but the exact time has not been announced, is expected to be held on March 28. If this information is true, then we will soon see how Xiaomi SU7 breaks through.

This article comes from the WeChat public account: Geek Park (ID: geekpark), author: Geek Park Auto Group

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