Xiaomi, which has moved from "cost-effective" to "high-end", will go through a journey full of uncertainty.
1003 days after the official announcement of the car, Xiaomi Group (1810HK) officially unveiled its first new model, the SU7, on December 28, which is expected to go on sale in the first half of 2024.
Founder Lei Jun said that the company's goal is to build a car comparable to Porsche (P911DF), Tesla (TSLAO) hopes to become one of the top five automakers in the world after 15-20 years of hard work.
The Su7 is a pure electric vehicle with two variants: a rear-wheel drive version with a range of 668 kmThe other is a four-wheel drive version with a range of up to 800 km. In comparison, the range of Tesla's Model 3, Model Y, Model X, and Model S is 713 km, 688 km, 664 km, and 672 km, respectively.
Exterior image of Xiaomi Su7.
*: Xiaomi Group.
This press conference is known as "only technology, not products". At the scene, Lei Jun introduced core technologies such as HyperEngine super motor, CTB integrated battery, 9100T super large die-casting, intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit. Lei Jun said that the SU7 MAX can accelerate up to 2In 78 seconds, the car reached a top speed of 265 km h, surpassing the Porsche Taycan Turbo in both times.
The above-mentioned technologies subvert the traditional impression of Xiaomi as "cost-effective" and aim to lay the foundation for competition in the high-end electric vehicle market. At present, analysts generally believe that the price of the SU7 is between 200,000 and 300,000.
According to Huatai** statistics, from January to September this year, the market share of 20-300,000 pure electric cars in China ranked Tesla Model 3 (26%), BYD (002594sz、1211.HK) Han EV (19%), ZEEKR 001 (12%), Seal EV (11%), etc.
The market is gambling that the price of SU7 will drop below 200,000 or remain above 250,000, and the announcement of pricing in the first half of next year is the core point. Huatai ** pointed out.
In the "Catalogue of New Energy Vehicle Models for Reduction and Exemption of Vehicle Purchase Tax" (the first batch) released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on December 26, two Xiaomi Su7 models are listed. In other words, Xiaomi car buyers can enjoy a tax exemption of up to 30,000 yuan.
Compared with the heat of the press conference, the capital market reflected relatively flat. On the same day, Xiaomi's stock price fell slightly by 025% as of December 29***418% to 15HK$6. Year-to-date, the company's stock price is **426%。
Since announcing its car-building plan in March 2021, Xiaomi has invested heavily in it. Lei Jun said that the company's first car invested 3,400 engineers and 10 billion yuan in research and development funds, which is more than 10 times that of ordinary car companies. However, whether these investments can eventually be converted into product sales and drive performance growth is what investors pay more attention to.
Xiaomi is not the only company betting on the "mobile phone + car" track. For example, in September of this year, NIO (NIOn、9866.HK) launched the NIO Phone mobile phone, with a starting price of 6499 yuan;In December, Huawei Wenjie M9 was officially released, with a starting price of 46980,000 yuan, and batch delivery is expected to start in February 2024.
In the context of the peak of smartphone growth and the fierce competition of new energy vehicles, the combination of consumer electronics and the automotive industry is expected to help enterprises find the second curve of performance growth and form differentiated advantages in the existing red sea market. This is also the closed loop of "people, cars and home ecology" that Xiaomi expects to see.
With the release of the SU7, the new energy market in 2024 will also have new variables. Xiaomi, which has moved from "cost-effective" to "high-end", will also go through a journey full of uncertainty.
Text |Barron's Chinese contributor Cao Yan
Edit |Yu Zhou
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