On July 19, Lei Jun, chairman of Xiaomi Group, held a 2024 annual speech with the theme of "courage". He retraced the journey of building a car in the past three years. Lei Jun said that Xiaomi's car manufacturing originated from an unexpected "crisis" three years ago, and the three years of serious car building have been a reborn experience for himself and Xiaomi. Now, Xiaomi cars have finally squeezed into the table, Lei Jun said frankly, "There is still a long way to go before real success, and the Long March has just begun." ”
In his speech, Lei Jun disclosed a number of unknown details about the construction of the car. For example, Lei Jun has not driven for more than ten years, but in order to deepen his understanding of cars, he has set himself a goal - to become one of the best people in the car among the bosses of domestic car companies. He has borrowed, driven more than 170 cars, more than 200,000 words of study notes, not only that, Lei Jun also made up his mind to learn racing, and with the Xiaomi management team to learn together, in the end, Lei Jun got the racing license as he wished, and Xiaomi also has more than 100 people to obtain a racing license. During the speech, Lei Jun also handed in his homework to netizens, showing himself driving Xiaomi SU7 to perform drifting through video.
Source: Screenshot of Lei Jun's speech
Xiaomi Auto was once valued at $10 billion
During the speech, Lei Jun recalled that Xiaomi's car was built because of an accident. At around 7 o'clock in the morning on January 15, 2021, a friend called to inform Xiaomi that it had been sanctioned by United States. Lei Jun urgently convened a board meeting to discuss how to respond, and a director on the board of directors asked: "If your mobile phone can't be used, what will happen to your 30,000 or 40,000 people?"
Some directors suggested that serious consideration should be given to building a car.
On March 30, 2021, he officially replied to the board of directors that he was willing to stand up and lead Xiaomi to build cars. Lei Jun said the decision was the result of more than 70 weeks of careful consideration. At that time, there were only seven words in his heart - although there were tens of millions of people, I would go.
Source: Screenshot of Lei Jun's speech
On March 30, 2021, Xiaomi officially announced that it would enter the car building and invest $10 billion in ten years. At the press conference that night, Lei Jun said categorically: "This is the last entrepreneurial project in my life, and I am willing to bet all my life's reputation and achievements to fight for Xiaomi Auto." ”
The news of Xiaomi's car manufacturing has caused huge repercussions, and at the same time, there are many worries and questions. For example, is it too late for Xiaomi to enter the market?
Lei Jun replied at the time: "Intelligence is the soul of the car, and intelligence in the era of electric vehicles has just begun, and the car is a century-old track, as long as you really like it, as long as you really want to do it, I think any time is the best time." ”
In addition, some people ask why Xiaomi Auto does not come out for independent financing and independent listing?
Lei Jun said frankly that there were indeed several VCs that offered Xiaomi cars at that time, with a valuation of $10 billion.
"Think about it, Xiaomi has nothing yet, it is valued at $10 billion, and it is almost risk-free to spend other people's money to build a car, who can refuse such a good thing? To tell you the truth, we've been touched too. Lei Jun said, but after careful consideration, he still refused.
Why?
"The car-making cycle is very long, if you take other people's money, it is almost impossible to maintain consistency in ideas for a long time, and Xiaomi makes cars internally, and a large number of talents and technologies can be used directly. So in the end, Xiaomi decided to do it all by itself, pay all the money by itself, and bear all the risks by itself, as long as it can do a good job, it will not hesitate. Lei Jun said.
As a result, Xiaomi began the process of building a car, not taking shortcuts, not acquiring, not OEM, starting from the core technology, ten times the investment, and seriously building a good car. Lei Jun sighed that no matter how huge the crisis is, he must not be frightened, and the courage to break through the cauldron is the key to breaking out of the encirclement.
When the first trial production car slowly drove out of the production line on August 16, 2023, everyone on the scene was excited. When everyone dispersed, Lei Jun circled around the trial production car alone, and finally opened the door and sat in it for a long, long time. "I can't believe that our car was really built, and it was really mixed feelings at that moment." Lei Jun said.
Be one of the best car owners to drive
Lei Jun said that in the past three years, the thing he personally pondered the most was, how can he do a good job?
He thought about it for a long time, and the answer he gave was that only by understanding and loving a line can he do a good job, and only by becoming a person who understands and loves cars can he have the opportunity to do a good job.
"You may not believe it, but the first step in building a car was to drive it myself. Why do people do a good job of Ferrari and Porsche, the owners and founders of people are all racing drivers. If you don't understand, how can you make a good car? He said.
Lei Jun said that he had not driven for more than ten years, and he was determined to drive again, a little in a hurry, like a novice on the road.
In order to test drive enough cars and understand enough cars, Lei Jun not only borrowed a car from his friends, but also borrowed a car from his colleagues, and also visited all the 4S stores of various brands to test drive. Later, Lei Jun also went to the underground garage of Xiaomi, and asked the assistant to post a loan slip when he saw that it had not been opened. Not only borrowed a car to drive, Lei Jun also had to chat with the owner of the car, check relevant information on the Internet, and read various reviews. "Unconsciously, in the past three years, I have test-driven more than 170 cars, and I have compiled more than 200,000 words of notes and materials."
Lei Jun said that he has made up his mind to become one of the best cars among the bosses of domestic car companies. He also took a racing driver's license, not only by himself, but also by forcing the team to practice.
He said that after playing racing, his cognition of the car has really taken a big step, because he has never driven the floor oil before, and he does not know what it means to steer accurately and where to hit.
After handing in the drift assignment, he proudly said: "Cars are such an exciting career, thanks to the accident three years ago, which made me join such an interesting industry." ”
The initial sales target is 76,000 units
Before the Xiaomi SU7 went on the market, almost everyone thought it would not sell. Lei Jun said that every decision to set production capacity and price is a huge torment.
In February 2024, it is necessary to determine the annual car production capacity target, at that time most people thought that Xiaomi could only sell 30,000 cars, Lei Jun himself was very conflicted, worried that he would not be able to sell, and on the other hand, he was worried that he would not sell enough. The company set an annual sales target of 76,000 units.
Lei Jun said that this goal means deducting the ramp-up time of production capacity and selling 10,000 yuan a month - this is the level of Tesla Model 3, "that is, the goal I set from day one is one of the best."
But what does it mean if you can't sell it? Lei Jun said that don't look at the Xiaomi car factory is very large, but it can only save three days' cars. "How big is a garage for a thousand cars? If you have 10,000 cars that you can't sell, how many football fields are you going to rent for parking? Anyway, if the inventory is all over the mountain from the beginning, it will be a catastrophe for us. ”
In the end, Lei Jun won the bet. In May 2024, Xiaomi Auto announced a new delivery target - to deliver 100,000 units by the end of the year, and strive to deliver 120,000 units. This is a huge challenge for all partners in the entire Xiaomi automotive and supply chain.
Lei Jun said with emotion that there is great courage behind the success of Xiaomi SU7, which is not the courage of one person, but the courage of more than 40,000 employees of Xiaomi Group. Courage is not the absence of fear, but in the face of fear, still unwavering, courage comes from firm faith, surging enthusiasm, and every step of the way.
Lei Jun said that the goal of Xiaomi Auto is to become one of the top five car manufacturers in the world through 15 to 20 years of hard work. How to prove your strength? Lei Jun said that he needs to have the courage to stand on the track of the world's top and face off against the world's top car companies.
The Nünüdg (Nürburgring Nordschleife) is the longest and most dropped closed circuit in the world. Lei Jun announced his goal: within ten years, Xiaomi will become the fastest four-door tram in New Zealand. "We are ready to do it year after year, until we are the strongest in the world!"
Lei Jun said that it is necessary to polish the core technology in the extreme environment of the track level, and then apply it to civilian vehicles, so that every user can reflect the peak performance and experience.