Finance Association, April 18 (Reporter Xu Hao) On the afternoon of April 18, Lei Jun, chairman of Xiaomi Motor Company, began a live broadcast to introduce the delivery center and experience center in Beijing in this format and interact with netizens. Since the live broadcast, the number of viewers has remained at 100,000+, and it has once again gained a wave of popularity.

Since its launch at the end of March, Xiaomi cars have attracted a lot of attention. While impressive results have been achieved, there is no shortage of questioning voices. Especially when entering the delivery stage, both consumers and industry insiders can have zero distance contact with the Xiaomi SU7.

“Xiaomi cars are so popular that I am afraid every day. The public beta has begun, and almost every little detail is viewed with a magnifying glass.” Lei Jun said.

Delivery time up to 32 weeks

The “breaking circle” of Xiaomi cars reflects the marketing ability that Xiaomi has always been particularly good at. As Zhou Hongli, founder and chairman of 360 Group, said, “Xiaomi did a good job in marketing because Lei Jun repackaged the things his peers were used to and thought everyone should know and told users.”

Twenty days after the press conference ended, Lei Jun started the live broadcast again, which was also one of his ways to maintain his attention. However, building a car has always been a “marathon”. After the “rice noodle” carnival, product quality and ability to shape will be the key to whether Xiaomi can continue to turn “traffic” into sales.

“I think we also need to seriously grasp the quality of manufacturing, deliver cars well, and serve users well.” Lei Jun also mentioned this during the live broadcast.

According to industry sources, the cancellation rate for the Xiaomi SU7 is around 55%. Lei Jun said on social media that if the Xiaomi car changes its configuration, it will be fairer for all users. “The delay in pick-up time depends on how long your current order is locked. Even if you lock the order early and rank higher, the delivery cycle will increase significantly due to the successful reconfiguration, and you will not be able to return it after the successful reconfiguration.” The move is also seen as a way to reduce the chargeback rate.

A reporter from the Financial Services Association visited the Xiaomi car store in Beijing's Heshenghui on April 15. Compared to the popular scene at the time of sale, traffic on that day had become normal. Due to the small size of the store, the number of consumers visiting to see the cars on display was less than that of the neighboring stores.

“Delivery time is about half a year.” A salesperson told reporters. The reporter discovered that some consumers have already “withdrawn” because the delivery time was too long.

The sales staff told the reporter that at present, the number of Xiaomi car locks has reached 60,000 units. The reporter saw on its official website that the delivery time for the standard version of the Xiaomi SU7 is about 28-31 weeks, the delivery time for the SU7 Pro version is 27-30 weeks, and the delivery time for the SU7 Max version is 29-32 weeks.

Lei Jun said during the live broadcast, “The core problem is that sales are 3-5 times higher than we expected. An urgent supplier conference was held a week ago. The standard version and PRO version were originally planned to be delivered at the end of April; in fact, delivery has already started today, 12 days ahead of schedule.”

Recently, Citigroup released a research report to forecast the delivery volume of Xiaomi Group's first automotive product, the SU7. According to the report, deliveries of the Xiaomi SU7 are expected to reach 5,000 to 6,000 units in April, and the delivery volume for the whole year is expected to be between 55,000 and 70,000 units. According to Citi's forecast, for every SU7 car sold in 2024, Xiaomi will lose an average of 6,800 yuan, and the entire car building business is expected to lose 4.1 billion yuan. This data reflects the financial pressure Xiaomi faced when it first entered the automotive market.

At the same time, the report said that the delivery time for the Xiaomi SU7 has now been extended to 6 months. If production capacity cannot be effectively increased to meet market demand, Xiaomi may face growth problems similar to last year's Xiaopeng G6.

Regarding this report, on April 15, Xu Jieyun, special assistant to the chairman of the Xiaomi Group and deputy general manager of the marketing department in China, responded that this information may be quite biased. According to information, this report by Citigroup analysts came out on April 2, and the sales boom of the Xiaomi SU7 may have been underestimated. Over the past few weeks, Xiaomi's orders have continued to increase, and every effort is being made to improve delivery capacity.

Some industry sources revealed that the production capacity of the Xiaomi SU7 has begun to increase, and the daily production capacity has reached more than 400 vehicles, which corresponds to a production capacity of at least 12,000 vehicles per month. The Xiaomi car factory plans to have an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles. At the same time, suppliers are also required to increase production capacity to 10,000 vehicles per month, and high-spec models are required to focus on increasing production capacity.

Delivery issues revealed and ongoing friction with “friends and merchants”

Although Lei Jun believes that the Xiaomi SU7 was “definitely a success in the first stage,” within just 20 days, the Xiaomi car also frequently appeared in the public eye due to various problems.

The paint was removed without delivery, the premium was comparable to that of a 500,000 fuel truck, and being questioned due to the brake pad area issue... Lei Jun confessed “a lot of pressure” on social media, and Xiaomi Auto has also published 20 episodes of “Xiaomi SU7 Answers Netizens' Questions” in a row.

According to reports, on April 4, a netizen in Shenzhen, Guangdong, posted an article claiming that the original version of the Xiaomi SU7 was purchased, but that the paint had fallen off before delivery. On the 7th, the person concerned explained that a piece of paint was removed before the car arrived and was told that the car had been bumped during transportation. It could only be delivered normally after the paint was repaired with 5,000 points of compensation. After the party in question refused, the other party proposed a solution of up to 20,000 points. They did not accept the replacement of the new car, and the deposit for returning the car was not refundable.

Regarding the close issue of the Xiaomi SU7 premium and the fuel vehicle premium of more than 500,000 yuan, on April 6, Xiaomi said that the commercial insurance terms for new energy vehicles and fuel vehicles are different. The exclusive commercial insurance clauses for new energy vehicles not only provide a guarantee for the “three electricity” system, but also comprehensively cover driving, parking, charging and operation scenarios. They are also calculated based on factors such as new/used vehicles, brands, models, types of insurance, and insured amounts. The premium prices are not all the same and cannot be easily compared through car prices.

On April 11, Xiaomi was questioned by the public again due to the problem of the area of the brake pads. Xiaomi Auto explained that this is because when comparing the data, the brake pad area of a high-end model was mistakenly compared with the standard configuration of a Xiaomi car. In fact, when designing Xiaomi cars, braking performance and safety factors have been fully taken into account, and the brake pad area meets industry standards and regulations.

Furthermore, there is constant friction between Xiaomi Motors and “friends and merchants.” At the launch conference of the Zhiji L6 on April 8, due to the Zhiji team mistakenly labeling an important parameter of the Xiaomi SU7 MAX, Xiaomi published three articles in a row that night refuting Zhizhi and clarifying its technical configuration. On April 11, in response to the “Xiaomi SU7 original phone holder,” Yu Chengdong, chairman of Huawei Smart Car Solution BU, laughed, “At first, I couldn't understand why some cars still use a mobile phone holder, but later figured it out because their car navigation wasn't easy to use, and they needed to use a mobile phone to navigate.” On April 16, a Jiyue Auto employee revealed that after purchasing the original version of the Xiaomi SU7, he was forcibly dismissed by the original company for violating the competition agreement.

Of course, as a latecomer, Xiaomi also invited a number of senior members of the car industry to stand on its platform. From the founder of “Wei Xiaoli” attending the press conference to this live broadcast, Lei Jun also connected with Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motor. “We've been doing it for 30 years, you've been doing it for 3 years, and your performance is already excellent.” Wei Jianjun gave high praise.