In the spring of 2021, 51-year-old Lei Jun announced that he would "bet on all honors to fight for Xiaomi Auto". 1003 days have passed since Xiaomi made a car, and the 54-year-old Lei Jun finally stood at the Xiaomi automotive technology conference, which was regarded as the release of its first electric car Xiaomi Su7 in advance, which brought a little "shock" to the car circle.
On the same day, Lei Jun posted on Weibo that he was a little excited and woke up early. As excited as he was was a batch of rice noodles. On the eve of the press conference, Wu Xiangyu, a rice fan in his 30s, sent a letter to Lei Jun, in which he mentioned that he would definitely buy the Xiaomi SU7.
This reminds people of the scene released by the second generation of Xiaomi in 2012, how many rice fans bought this mobile phone?And how many young people have met the second generation of Xiaomi at the most powerless age?Whether it is the mobile phone released by Xiaomi in the early years or the current Xiaomi Su7, they are actually aimed at the original batch of rice noodles. Wu Xiangyu also mentioned in the letter that he was the first batch of rice noodles to grow up and had a certain amount of spending power. According to Lei Jun, this is what he said about the "elite of the times" who grew up with Xiaomi.
Sell cars like mobile phones
Looking back on this technology conference, it is actually more like a product launch conference, except for **, basically there is detailed content in all aspects, Lei Jun spoke for nearly three hours throughout the whole process. This is the consistent style of Xiaomi's press conference. Like the release of mobile phone products, Lei Jun is not so much introducing new cars as popularizing car knowledge to the audience, even to the point of no matter how big or small.
Lei Jun's understanding, expression and positioning of smart cars make me think that Xiaomi cars, like mobile phones, are still pursuing high performance, heap configuration and various technologies.
First, the most". This is troubling. Although the rim is now rolling technology, if you refine to the parameters and pursue a certain limit value, then the product may not be able to talk about the experience.
Xiaomi Su7 Wind Tunnel Test Xiaomi Mi Su7 Wind Resistance Coefficient 0195cd, painstakingly worked to the lowest in production cars, which can effectively reduce power consumption. However, the drag coefficient is by no means as low as possible, because the lower the drag coefficient, the stronger the instability of the car running at high speeds, and the vehicle cannot strengthen downforce with the help of high-speed wind. With this in mind, Xiaomi has added a lifting rear wing to the SU7 to increase downforce.
Generally speaking, it is more economical for electric vehicles to run at medium and low speeds, and the motor consumption on the highway is accelerated, and it also has to deal with wind resistance. In order to save a little battery life, car companies often pursue low drag coefficients. It's simple, it's easier to do. Therefore, now the new forces are blowing hard to lower the drag coefficient, and Xiaomi, as a newcomer to the industry, is no exception. As a rice fan, I prefer that Xiaomi can bring some new atmosphere to the car rim, rather than following the trend.
Volume parameters and stacking materials are just basic exercises, and volume self-development is the "highlight" of this Xiaomi technology conference.
Some netizens said that Xiaomi's integrated die-casting machine is the best business, the battery is CATL, the motor is UMC and Inovance, what has Xiaomi self-developed?
There may be some deviations in the understanding of the outside world, and the technical things are very complicated. Everyone in the industry knows that Xiaomi will not really develop from scratch, and must selectively make technical improvements. According to this logic, there is nothing wrong with participating in technical improvement and self-development. In short, you just say that the technology has not changed, right?
I think that the success of Xiaomi mobile phones in the early days lies in its efficient chain management and production cost control, coupled with the Internet sales model, and the products that are delivered to consumers must be very cost-effective. In recent years, the automobile ** chain has been very mature, and Xiaomi's car building is actually a matter of course. Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done for a technology company like Xiaomi, which has no experience in building cars.
The first step is to sort out the tram technology, in other words, to create an architecture. In the case of the deep participation of **chain technology, Xiaomi's self-developed "Modena" architecture came into being, which includes five core technologies: Xiaomi super motor, Xiaomi self-developed CTB integrated battery technology, Xiaomi super large die-casting, Xiaomi full-stack self-developed intelligent driving technology and Xiaomi intelligent cockpit.
On this basis, Xiaomi has added the content of the Internet of Everything, bringing a new concept of "high-performance ecological technology car" and some new ways to play with hardware expansion. This should be the principle of "keeping the right and surprising" mentioned by Lei Jun.
Xiaomi cars "are a little expensive
As for **, the audience at the press conference was crazy and tentative, and there was a shout 9990,000, Lei Jun smiled and said it was impossible;There is also a mention of 14990,000, Lei Jun waved his hand at this;And said 1999 made a friend, which made Lei Jun speechless for a while. This number is quite classic, and it seems to have hit Lei Jun's bottom line.
In an interview with CCTV, Lei Jun seemed a little entangled, he said that the first car was not only afraid of not buying rice noodles, but also afraid of rice noodles bursting. But in contrast, the subtext in Lei Jun's heart must be that he wants to see the Xiaomi Su7 sell well. As the last battle of his career, Lei Jun needed a success so much that he was a little "aggressive" at the press conference.
Of course, it is not Xiaomi that compares millions of luxury cars, and the previous "best SUV within 5 million" and "best SUV within 10 million" have long been known. Some people say that the advertising law does not seem to exist at the press conference of the new forces.
Fortunately, Lei Jun didn't do this, and he shared technology, self-research capabilities, products and feelings throughout the whole press conference. He just hopes that the Xiaomi Su7 can be comparable to the Taycan in terms of drivability and other mechanical qualities, and comparable to the Tesla Model S in terms of intelligence;By the way, more than 50 "most" were mentioned, which does not include the content on the PPT of the press conference.
As a result, the more rice noodles and stockholders listen, the more they lie. On December 29, Xiaomi Group's recent stock price exceeded 4%. Lei Jun doesn't mention money in every word, but every word is money, which makes the future of Xiaomi cars even more unpredictable. However, as long as Lei Jun pinched the hole card of pricing, Xiaomi Su7 still has room for "bargaining".
Lei Jun has repeatedly stressed that the new car is "a little expensive", and perhaps this is just part of the plan. Just as a "celebrity" of Meizu said, from a marketing point of view, under Xiaomi's heavy laying, the only ** that has not been announced may be the biggest killer move. If, like more than ten years ago, Xiaomi gives an unrefusable **, how should rice fans respond?
A car that can only be driven by the "elite of the times"?
Before it was clear, Lei Jun said that this car was made for the "elite of the times". At the end of the press conference, Lei Jun did not forget to reward himself with a speech and confessed to the "elite of the times" in his eyes. Wu Xiangyu, who wrote to Lei Jun, took a seat very accurately: "This car was built for me by Lei Jun, I will definitely buy it!."”
To put it bluntly, Xiaomi just wants to use the label of "elite of the times" to take off the hat of "cost performance". Lei Jun cares very much about the sign of Xiaomi, he once said in an interview, very puzzled why Xiaomi can't afford the word "high-end", he just doesn't believe in evil. So, Xiaomi car or Xiaomi car, and nothing else, engage in a sub-brand?Lei Jun's dictionary doesn't have these words.
Lei Jun once optimistically believed that even if 1% of tens of millions of rice noodles were willing to pay, Xiaomi cars would be counted.
Wu Xiangyu may be in this 1%, he talked about his expectations for Xiaomi cars in a letter to Lei Jun: "For the car, in addition to travel, we need a safe and comfortable, driving fun and sense of technology car, SU7 positioning C-class coupe, the appearance is really good-looking, we both like it very much, she said that the SU7 star ring tail light is the best tail light on the market." ”
He also said on behalf of rice fans: "What we want is a good car that is full of safety, appearance, performance, and experience, and I hope that Xiaomi Auto will still adhere to the cost performance, but don't be bound by **, and boldly do high-end." ”
Lei Jun once launched a poll on Weibo, "What is the approximate price of your first car from Xiaomi?"The results show that 39% of those who choose less than 100,000 yuan are selected;The choice of 100,000 150,000 yuan accounted for about 27%. It seems that Lei Jun is not impressed by the voting results, Xiaomi Su7 is obviously going to the high-end, and the cost price may exceed 150,000.
But never test users with feelings, because the results are often realistic. Wu Xiangyu can't represent the rice noodle group, and most people have to consider more than just themselves at the age of 30. Ten years ago, rice noodles thought it was cool to be "born for fever", but ten years later, they have entered society, and they may want to tear off the label that was once attached to them.
To a certain extent, Xiaomi cars still haven't gotten rid of the product thinking of Xiaomi mobile phones: the ultimate pile-up, the endless "first, first". In fact, in the case of the same difference in tram technology, the first thing Xiaomi cars need is a set of memorable designs, just like AVATR 12;Rather than a homogeneous design, or a set of more secure shapes.
Shell financial data shows that young people choose a car, ** is the primary consideration, followed by appearance. It can be seen that the shape of the car often plays a vital role in the choice of a car for young people. What kind of car does the "elite of the times" need?If Xiaomi only surveyed the rice noodle group, it is likely to form an illusion.
But what really matters now is that Lei Jun has never shown that set of numbers, which almost determines the fate of Xiaomi Su7.