Source: Geek Park Author: Jesse Apple WWDC, How AI Enters iPhone and Mac. Apple has finally revealed its progress in AI. Compared to Google's I/O conference last month, which mentioned the term AI 121 times, Apple hardly mentioned AI on the eve of WWDC 24. However, this WWDC conference was already destined to focus on AI. Until the conference was half-over, Apple finally showed off its main course, Apple Intelligence. Although it can also be abbreviated as AI, Apple finally chose to name its AI as 'Apple Intelligence.' During the introduction, Cook particularly emphasized that they wanted to build 'Personal Intelligence' beyond Artificial Intelligence. Unlike other large model development concepts that 'perform miracles,' Apple has adopted a relatively cautious and more granular development model, defining each function more clearly, but also appearing less 'magical.' At the conference, Apple announced its cooperation with OpenAI. Users can directly call the GPT-4o interface through Siri for dialogue, but did not make a deeper integration of GPT with phone functions. In any case, Apple represents one billion mobile device users, the highest frequency of use scenes. This may be the beginning of AI truly becoming 'useful.'
Author: Cao Siji, Xin Ling. In 23 years, the company's overall sales volume was 18,000 kiloliters, which increased significantly by +28.10% comparing with last year. In terms of product structure, the operating income of products worth 10-30 billion yuan was respectively 401/1288/60 million yuan.

"We are like pawns crossing the river, we can only charge forward with all our might."

Until the shocking press conference in March 2024, the story of Xiaomi's car-making and the new car later named Xiaomi SU7 remained a mystery. On this evening, Lei Jun used a nearly 80-minute speech to reveal for the first time his personal journey in the three-year car-making process. At first, this was an adventure that wasn't viewed favorably. Car-making has always been the most difficult pearl in human industry. Although Xiaomi did not lack the funds and resources necessary for car-making, new energy cars had already moved from the blue ocean to the red ocean at that time. Xiaomi, which missed the first opportunity, it was not easy to stand out. Moreover, the soul figure, Lei Jun, had no car-making experience and even lacked rich driving experience. After all, as a successful entrepreneur, Lei Jun had been driven by drivers for travel over the past decade. Under external doubts, the Xiaomi team did everything they could in the past three years, including Lei Jun himself to make up for his lack of knowledge about cars. Not only to regain his driving skills, but also to borrow from friends and colleagues, visit 4S shops, and test drive more than 170 cars in several years. Even because he discovered that the founders of Ferrari and Porsche were both race car drivers in the reading process, Lei Jun ran to learn racing, and, together with more than 100 members of the team, got the race driver's license as well. Three years of effort ultimately turned into the opening bonanza of the Xiaomi SU7. It was commented on by some media that it could sell for a maximum of 3,000 units per month before going public, but under great pressure, Lei Jun set an annual target of 76,000 units at the beginning of the year, which means a delivery of about 10,000 units per month. In the end, SU7's market response after going public exceeded expectations. Lei Jun announced in his speech that Xiaomi's SU7's delivery target this year is between 100,000 and 120,000 units. This is only half a year's result of SU7. It is worth noting that the total sales volume of Model 3 in China last year was only 1.4 million units. As Lei Jun himself said, Xiaomi has just squeezed onto the playing table today, and the long march has just begun. But regardless of how the story ends, the "0 to 1" story of Xiaomi's car-making is worth careful study for anyone who is aspiring to start a business or is already engaged in entrepreneurship.$Xiaomi Group-W(01810.HK)$In the past three years, the efforts have finally turned into the opening bonanza of the Xiaomi SU7. It was commented on by some media that it could sell for a maximum of 3,000 units per month before going public, but under great pressure, Lei Jun set an annual target of 76,000 units at the beginning of the year, which means a delivery of about 10,000 units per month. In the end, SU7's market response after going public exceeded expectations. Lei Jun announced in his speech that Xiaomi's SU7's delivery target this year is between 100,000 and 120,000 units. This is only half a year's result of SU7. It is worth noting that the total sales volume of Model 3 in China last year was only 1.4 million units.

"This was not a favored adventure at the beginning. Car-making has always been the most difficult pearl in human industry. Although Xiaomi did not lack the funds and resources necessary for car-making, new energy cars had already moved from the blue ocean to the red ocean at that time. Xiaomi, which missed the first opportunity, it was not easy to stand out."

"Moreover, the soul figure, Lei Jun, had no car-making experience and even lacked rich driving experience. After all, as a successful entrepreneur, Lei Jun had been driven by drivers for travel over the past decade."

Under external doubts, the Xiaomi team did everything they could in the past three years, including Lei Jun himself to make up for his lack of knowledge about cars. Not only to regain his driving skills, but also to borrow from friends and colleagues, visit 4S shops, and test drive more than 170 cars in several years. Even because he discovered that the founders of Ferrari and Porsche were both race car drivers in the reading process, Lei Jun ran to learn racing, and, together with more than 100 members of the team, got the race driver's license as well.

"In the past three years, the efforts have finally turned into the opening bonanza of the Xiaomi SU7. It was commented on by some media that it could sell for a maximum of 3,000 units per month before going public, but under great pressure, Lei Jun set an annual target of 76,000 units at the beginning of the year, which means a delivery of about 10,000 units per month. In the end, SU7's market response after going public exceeded expectations. Lei Jun announced in his speech that Xiaomi's SU7's delivery target this year is between 100,000 and 120,000 units. This is only half a year's result of SU7. It is worth noting that the total sales volume of Model 3 in China last year was only 1.4 million units."

"As Lei Jun himself said, Xiaomi has just squeezed onto the playing table today, and the long march has just begun. But regardless of how the story ends, the "0 to 1" story of Xiaomi's car-making is worth careful study for anyone who is aspiring to start a business or is already engaged in entrepreneurship."

The following is the full text of Lei Jun's 2024 speech on "courage".

01 Began with an "accident"

For the past three months, I have felt like I'm in a dream every day. Looking back at over a thousand days and nights, Xiaomi car has experienced too many ups and downs.

Many people know that Xiaomi's car-making originated from an accident. At around 7 o'clock on the morning of January 15, 2021, while I was on my way to work, I received a call from a friend who said, "President Lei, you've been sanctioned by the United States." That moment was like a bolt out of the blue, I was immediately confused. We quickly held an emergency board meeting to discuss how to respond.

At this board meeting, a director asked, "What will you do if your mobile phone is no longer viable, and your three or four thousand employees?" One director suggested that you should seriously consider car-making. That afternoon, we had a serious discussion on car-making, and almost all executives supported it.

"I thought car-making was too risky, so we formed a team of six researchers. In the next 70-plus days, we travelled to more than 10 cities and conducted 85 investigations and interviews with more than 200 people. Sometimes we went in the morning and returned in the evening, and held four executive meetings in between."

"In the past three years, the efforts have finally turned into the opening bonanza of the Xiaomi SU7. It was commented on by some media that it could sell for a maximum of 3,000 units per month before going public, but under great pressure, Lei Jun set an annual target of 76,000 units at the beginning of the year, which means a delivery of about 10,000 units per month. In the end, SU7's market response after going public exceeded expectations. Lei Jun announced in his speech that Xiaomi's SU7's delivery target this year is between 100,000 and 120,000 units. This is only half a year's result of SU7. It is worth noting that the total sales volume of Model 3 in China last year was only 1.4 million units."

"At the same time, I also expressed my concern: Will the automotive industry be monopolized like smartphones? In the end, there may be only 5-8 winners in the world. If we can't be in the top five globally, we may not survive. Therefore, if we are going to make a car, we must first have a long-term plan, and secondly, we must aim for the top five globally."

Lei Jun's 2024 speech "Courage" full text as follows:

This means we need to prepare a lot of money. At the time, our view was that we needed at least 10 billion US dollars. After intense discussion, the directors gave me a positive response, saying they support making cars. But due to the large investment, Lei Jun himself had to lead the team personally. To be honest, I never expected the board would make such a demand. In the following days, I spent every day in anxiety.

At that time, Xiaomi was in a troubled period. We had been listed for two and a half years and the whole company was in the midst of transitioning from guerilla warfare to regular warfare. In addition, the high-end trend of smartphones had just begun, and there were thousands of things to consider. One of our young executives, Zhou Shouzi, who had been cultivated for many years and highly anticipated, also resigned, giving me a big blow. Although I had many regrets in my heart, I still gave him very good wishes.

We were in such a troubled period, and all these things were mixed together and became tangled in my heart. At this moment, I had to think about whether we should make cars? Should I lead the team to make cars? It was really not easy. Every night, I finally summoned up the courage to decide to do something big. But the next morning when I woke up and saw the rising sun, I was confused again. I seemed to be asking myself, Is it really worth starting all over again, given how hard entrepreneurship can be? And if there is so much risk, will I end up with nothing if I lose? And do I really have enough energy to enter a completely new industry?

These questions were on my mind, and I thought about them for a whole week, which was particularly painful.

On March 30th, I officially replied to the board of directors. If Xiaomi must make cars and if everyone thought I was suitable, I would take the lead for Xiaomi. This was not a whim or a makeshift plan, but the result of my deep consideration for more than 70 days. At that time, there were only seven words in my heart: Though a million men, we will go.

On that day, we officially announced that Xiaomi would make cars, with Lei Jun leading the team and investing 10 billion US dollars in full within 10 years.

The news of "Xiaomi's entry into the car market" and the investment of "10 billion US dollars" shook the entire industry. On the evening of that day, we held a press conference. Actually, I was in a particularly bad state that day, and I could hardly even speak. On stage, I left no room for myself and said with determination: "This is my last entrepreneurial project in my life. I am willing to stake my lifelong reputation and achievements to fight for Xiaomi's car business." At that moment, thunderous applause broke out, and everyone gave me a lot of encouragement. I was mixed with emotions at that moment.

That night was a sleepless night for Xiaomi and the entire automotive industry. I received a lot of messages, but the most touching one came from the 37th employee of Xiaomi's early startups. He had been obsessed with cars since he was little, and thought he would never have the chance to work with cars in his life. That day he happened to be on a business trip in Guangzhou. After seeing our live broadcast, he was so excited that he invited a few colleagues to the bank of the Pearl River to drink. They still felt unsatisfied after drinking, so they walked along the river all night long. At 5am, he finally made up his mind and sent me a message: Whatever it takes, let me be a part of this.

That night, there were many people who couldn't sleep all night long, such as Li Tianyuan, who was responsible for the design of the IX series at BMW's German headquarters at the time. He was a Chinese designer who had done well in Europe. Xiaomi's press conference deeply shocked him and he developed a desire to join Xiaomi. Everyone should think for a moment, abandoning one's job at BMW headquarters and giving up a comfortable life in Europe, convincing one's family to return to China, this is really not a simple matter. But he still resolutely resigned, packed his bags, moved his family back to China, and devoted himself to Xiaomi's car startup.

There was also Hu Zhengnan. He had visited Xiaomi twice before. One night after the press conference, he called me and said that he had been making cars for more than 20 years, had gone through state-owned enterprises, private enterprises, and had even started his own business. His contract with his former employer had expired, and he was very curious about how the Internet was making cars. Later, he joined Shunwei Capital and then became my advisor. In this way, a group of people who love cars gathered together.

Within a short half year, we formed a team of more than 1,000 people. Now, the automotive department has more than 7,000 people. What is even more commendable is that we have gathered more than 1,000 technical experts. So, that press conference played a very big role in building our team. A few days ago, our HR department calculated that we had received 0.38 million resumes in more than three years. Here, I would like to say that we always welcome outstanding engineers to join the Xiaomi Automotive team. We want to become one of the world's top five car manufacturers, and we need more outstanding people.

Xiaomi's entry into the car market has caused a huge response in society, and my group of entrepreneur friends also showed special concern and visited Xiaomi on April 5th. They came with two core questions.

The first question they asked was, "Isn't it too late for you to enter the market?"

At the time, I answered them this way: "Intelligence is the soul of cars, and intelligence has just begun in the era of electric vehicles. And cars have been a hundred-year-old race, and I think any time is the best time as long as you really like it and want to do it."

The second question they asked was, "Why doesn't Xiaomi Automotive come up with independent financing and an independent IPO?"

After hearing about the IPO, many people were boiled with enthusiasm. Moreover, at that time, the shares of new energy vehicle companies were soaring. I told everyone that indeed, several VC firms gave Xiaomi Automotive an offer at that time, with a valuation of 10 billion US dollars due to the particularly hot market.

Think about it, a valuation of 10 billion USD, and making cars with other people's money, almost risk-free, who can refuse such a good thing? To be honest, we were tempted, but after careful consideration, we declined. Why? Because the car-making cycle is very long, and it is almost impossible to maintain consistency for a long time if we take other people's money. In terms of product structure, the operating income of 10-30 billion yuan products was 401/1288/60 million yuan respectively.

It is possible to make use of a large number of talents and technologies in Xiaomi if we make cars within Xiaomi. I am very clear that car-making is very difficult, and it is impossible to do it alone. I need everyone in Xiaomi to support me unreservedly. I hope everyone can work together to make cars to increase our chances of success. So in the end, we decided to make cars ourselves, spend our own money, and bear all the risks ourselves. As long as we can make good cars, we spare no effort.

That day, Mr. Wang Chuanfu came, Mr. Li Xiang came, Mr. He Xiaopeng came, and Mr. Li Bin also came. I remember later Mr. Wang Chuanfu told me that he admired our courage very much, but still worried for us. This is the beginning of Xiaomi's car-making. If it were not for the huge impact of unexpected events such as the US sanctions, we would not have risked entering the complex auto industry or have the Xiaomi SU7 today. Therefore, no matter how big the crisis we face, we cannot be intimidated.

As long as we can smoothly enter the market, it will be a huge success.

Courage fighting against the odds is the key to our breakthrough. After we decided to make cars, we actually faced countless challenges.

The auto industry releases two to three hundred new car models each year, which is an industry with fierce competition. As a newcomer, the first car is very important. What kind of car should we make?

At the beginning, our team searched for a lot of reports, started researching, and wrote hundreds of pages of analysis materials. I couldn't help but throw cold water on everyone. I said, let's not think so complicated. Can we first make a car that Xiaomi engineers want to buy? If we don't want to buy it ourselves, it's useless even if we make that car. I said, let's simplify the problem first. Then, the second question came, what kind of car do Xiaomi engineers actually want to buy?

Our team is indeed quite professional, and everyone's first reaction is that we should find a research company and spend a few months on a report. I reminded everyone again, saying let's not waste our time. 100 reports cannot replace face-to-face communication with real users. I said I should start immediately. I mobilized everyone, worked hard, and talked to more than 300 Xiaomi engineers in two or three weeks.

After talking to them, everyone still felt unsatisfied, so we went to the parking lots of every office area of Xiaomi, and counted car by car to see what everyone was driving. This method looks very old-fashioned, but it is simple, direct, effective, and soon we know the brands, models, and price ranges that everyone buys. For example, sedans and SUVs are evenly split. From the perspective of R&D, making sedans is more difficult, so most car companies start with SUVs. But my opinion is different. We decided not to follow the common practice, and start with a pure electric sedan, starting with the difficult part. After we make the sedans well, it will be easier to make other car models.

So we are determined to make pure electric sedans. The industry chain in China is very mature, and it is actually relatively easy to assemble a car. More than three years ago, many friends advised me that we were already too late, and we could just find OEMs and not do everything ourselves. Initially, we also thought about the same thing, and we also considered mergers and acquisitions. But soon, we made up our minds to start from core technology without taking shortcuts.

Why? Because we suffered a lot before. When Xiaomi started a business 14 years ago, it was light mode and innovation in mode. The initial speed was very fast, but the foundation was not solid, and then we encountered many setbacks. Until now, we are still trying to catch up.

So when we started our new business again, we decided not to take shortcuts, not to acquire, not to be lazy, and to start from core technology with 10 times the investment, to make a good car in earnest. When we made this decision, our investment was very firm.

Today, I'm going to talk to you about the battery pack. It may seem simple to most people, but it is actually very complicated and requires millions of investment for nearly a year to do a battery pack. Therefore, developing a new car often requires making two battery packs in the industry, and three or more packs are not uncommon. We made more than ten battery packs in the initial stage.

We even set up a battery pack factory to understand the technology behind battery packs. Not only did we almost exhaust our own team, we also troubled our suppliers. I was a little embarrassed, and I called Mr. Zeng Yuqun, the founder of Contemporary Amperex Technology. Mr. Zeng said he understood. He had made a battery for a Company A before. Company A only needed one battery solution for a mobile phone. They developed more than 200 models during the R&D process, but only one was used in the end. He said he understood, and we must do so in order to truly make a good product.

That's how we started, starting from core technology, investing 10 times that of our peers. At the beginning, we launched the R&D of core technology.

So we worked hard for more than half a year. At the end of 2021, the first formal project review meeting was held before the Chinese New Year. Everyone was very excited, but what happened? This meeting was particularly depressing, with a lot of dissent and arguments. In the end, we made the decision to scrap the entire product plan and start over.

I think everyone had a bad Chinese New Year, especially anxious about our project progress. On the first day of work after the Chinese New Year, I cancelled all schedules and got all core members of the car team to the meeting, to discuss how to solve the problem. This was a temporary meeting, and no one expected it to last for 21 full days in a marathon-style meeting. At the beginning, everyone was relatively reserved, but arguments started the next day and became more and more intense. Sometimes, a problem can be argued from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Our team of more than 1,000 people are all waiting for the results of this meeting. At times of great pressure, we paused all work and cleared things up first. Looking back today, this meeting was very important for us because we come from different backgrounds and this was the first time we had such a long and high-density face-to-face discussion to help everyone understand and integrate with each other. The consensus that emerged from this 21-day meeting was vital: as a newcomer in the industry, Xiaomi will be a huge success as long as it can get onto the playing field smoothly. As for product structure, product operating income of 10-30 billion yuan was 401/1288/60 million yuan respectively.

So many people have asked me, "how did you manage to build a car in three years?" The most important thing is this: Xiaomi respects the rules of the industry when building cars. We need to hold our ground and make surprising moves, which means that we need to hold our ground first instead of trying to upend everything as soon as we start. Because of this 21-day meeting, our ten or so team members became true comrades.

But who could have predicted that just as this 21-day meeting wrapped up, the coronavirus outbreak hit Shanghai.

We have a lot of engineers in Shanghai. What should we do about research and development? Everyone carried all the equipment they could and took everything back home to continue their work. One of my classmates moved all of the equipment back home and set up a working environment in their living room. That's where the control software for our Xiaomi super electric motor was launched for the first time.

This was a very special and unforgettable experience. We were so far apart, yet we felt so close. I remember that a lot of SU7 product decisions were made during various video conferences. We even held several online celebrations during this time. Whenever we reached a milestone, we would send red wine to every colleague's home and we would drink together online. This great and fearless revolutionary romantic spirit helped us overcome many difficulties. We managed to keep our project going without delay and according to plan.

On August 16, 2023, Xiaomi's first trial production car slowly drove off the production line.

Everyone on site was very excited. After so many twists and turns, the Xiaomi SU7 was delivered on schedule. This was truly a miracle. I believe that this miracle was the result of the efforts of the 6,000 to 7,000 people in our automotive department, and every team performed beyond expectations.

I remember that after the offline ceremony was over, everyone left, and I walked around the market car for a long time. I opened the car door and sat inside for a long time, unable to believe that our car had really been built. That moment was filled with mixed emotions.

So, we chose to make the most difficult pure electric sedan, starting from core technology and stopping work for a 21-day meeting during the most intense period of the project, all of which required great courage and determination. Because we know that only by insisting on doing difficult and correct things can we go further and make Xiaomi automobiles a real success.

03 wants to be the best racer among domestic automaker executives.

Over the past three years, the thing I've thought about the most is that since I am leading the team, how can I build good cars?

I thought about it for a long time, and later I realized that the answer is really simple: understanding and loving the industry. Only by understanding and loving cars can I have a chance of building good cars.

So my first step in car building was to drive a car myself. To be honest, over 10 years ago because I was so busy, the company arranged a dedicated driver for me, so I rarely drove. When I decided to build cars, I made up my mind to drive myself. At that time, I asked the driver to sit in the passenger seat, and my colleagues joked that my driver was very prestigious because the boss was driving.

Many experienced scholars joined the Xiaomi automotive team. They have been involved in the industry for a lifetime, with a wealth of experience. It was quite stressful for me to work with them. Later on, I realized that I needed to learn quickly. I had to try driving as many cars as possible to bridge the information gap.

So, I first borrowed cars from friends around me and then from colleagues around me. It took me one or two months to borrow all of them. However, they all owned similar car models. Later, I decided to visit all the 4S stores of various brands to look at and test drive their cars.

Every time I went, I wore a hat and sunglasses. I was fully armed, but it didn't seem to help, as I was recognized soon enough. I was embarrassed. Later, I found a good solution - I drove around in Xiaomi's underground garage and asked my assistant to borrow cars that hadn't been driven yet. The assistant would write a note and stick it on the car. Many colleagues were surprised and asked if it was really Lei Jun who wanted to borrow the car.

After borrowing a car, I especially liked chatting with the owner of the car. I would ask three main questions: What are the advantages and disadvantages of this car? Why did you buy this car? What kind of car do you plan to buy next if you do? The owner would tell me, and I would take notes and then drive carefully for a day or two.

This was not enough. I went online and found all the relevant information about the car. I read the comments online and took notes. In this way, I had a complete understanding of a car. Then I filled up the tank, washed the car, and returned it. Over the past three years, I have unconsciously test-driven more than 170 cars. The other day, I organized all of my test-drive notes and materials, and it turned out to be over 200,000 words. So, I earnestly learned this lesson.

Therefore, we chose to make the most difficult pure electric car, starting from the core technology and pausing our work for a 21-day meeting during the most intense period of the project. This required great courage and determination. Because we know that only by adhering to difficult and correct things can we go further, and Xiaomi's cars can truly succeed.

To catch up, I read a lot of biographies of auto tycoons, and even found and re-watched all the racing movies I've watched before. After watching a lot, I realized that why do Ferrari and Porsche do well? Because their bosses, their founders are racers. Really, if you don't understand, how can you make a good car?

I set a small goal, can I become one of the best drivers among domestic car company bosses? Can I go racing?

After having this idea, my first reaction was, is it dangerous to go racing? And is it unreliable for someone of my age to go racing?

I thought about it for a long time and finally decided to give it a try. In order to go racing, you have to take a racing license first. I learned my license in the summer. I don't know how much you know about racing cars. The main task of racing cars is to handle the extreme working conditions on the track, so everything that can be removed from the car is removed, even the air conditioner. Think about it, in Beijing's summer, sometimes the temperature is 40 degrees, inside the car it is 60 degrees, it's so hot that it's like dying. Every time I take a break, I feel like I'm about to collapse.

It's easy for a novice to accidentally go off the track and hit the barrier. It's a big deal if you crash a car while driving normally. But once you go racing, it's all common, and there's no insurance for racing cars. If you're hit, you can only fix it yourself. Whether you hit someone or get hit, you have to fix your own car. So racing cars look very dangerous, but in fact it's not safe (laughs).

But here I want to remind everyone that you must pay attention to safety when racing. The most important thing is that your racing car must be modified, with modified brakes, tires, safety seats, and even consider installing roll bars. You can't use a regular car to run on the race track.

In order to learn to drive racing cars well, I also bought a very advanced seven-axis simulator and practiced secretly at home. I suffered a lot and finally got my racing license.

I not only practiced myself, but also forced the Xiaomi team to practice. Our management team and engineers have obtained racing licenses, more than 100 people in total. Because I believe that only a team truly passionate about cars can make good cars.

To improve our skills, we often hold various internal competitions. Let me share a video of our competition. In the same U-turn, I was hit twice by a colleague in two laps, and the repair cost was 0.025 million.

After this, my understanding of cars has advanced a lot. Because before, when I drove by myself, I had never used full throttle or full brake, just press it down, and when I encountered a brake, I just pressed it down. And I didn't know what precision steering, handling, and aiming meant. After driving a racing car, I fully understood it, and I also had a deeper understanding of what it means to be one with the car. For each key milestone in car R&D, I strive to participate personally.

At the end of 2022, our engineering cars began testing as scheduled. The first winter test was in Heihe, at minus 30 to minus 40 degrees. This was a big test for Xiaomi Auto, and I attached great importance to it and went to the site with our management team. The person in charge of the winter test was very surprised to see me. He said he had been working for more than 20 years and this was the first time he had seen a chairman come to the winter test.

The summer test was in Turpan. Turpan's summer temperature can reach 50 degrees! Do you know how hot a car can get in the sun for a whole afternoon at 50 degrees? When I looked at other benchmark cars, the temperature inside their cars reached 90 degrees, and it was very painful. At the moment I got out of the car, I realized how important it was to apply sunscreen well! The temperature inside our car can be more than 10 degrees lower than others'.

This summer test was very difficult, but it also left many good memories. What can I remember today? It's the watermelon in Turpan, big and sweet, weighing over 20 kg, very delicious, and unbelievably cheap. The price is not calculated by weight, but by kilogram. Do you know how much a kilogram of watermelon costs in Turpan? Five cents. Our brothers who are still in Turpan now tell me that it's even cheaper this year, only three cents per kilogram, and a 20-plus-kilogram watermelon costs only more than three yuan, so cheap that I cannot resist bringing back four or five to Beijing, and the shipping cost is 100 times more expensive.

Quality is very, very important to us as we make cars for the first time. In January of this year, we conducted the largest-scale on-road vehicle testing in the industry. We invested 576 samples and tested the streets and alleys of more than 300 cities, with a total test mileage of 5.4 million kilometers. At the beginning of this year, you probably saw our test fleet, which had very broad coverage and should be the first large-scale testing in the industry.

Some netizens commented that whether Xiaomi's car is good or not depends on whether their executives dare to drive it. At that time, we were still testing the car, and an engineer specially forwarded it to a group and mentioned me. I understood his meaning. I silently forwarded it to the top executive group and mentioned everyone. I think Xiaomi's executives are quite high-quality, and they immediately responded and all participated in the test.

They want to prove that SU7 is reliable by themselves. All executives tested more than 0.1 million kilometers before the launch of SU7. I have tested more than ten times myself, with a total of 5,000 kilometers. The most unforgettable time for me was in January of this year, from Beijing to Shanghai, from 6 am to 9 pm, driving 1,276 kilometers alone for 15 hours. I never thought one person could drive so far.

At first, the public relations colleagues did not allow me to do this. They were not worried about SU7, but they were worried about me. They said, 'Lei, what if you scrape the car? It could easily become a public relations crisis.' While I was driving, many of them were watching me, even more nervous than I was. The journey went smoothly with the help of intelligent driving on the highway today, and the overall experience was quite relaxing.

Moreover, the most surprising gain from this test was the winter highway, where the Xiaomi SU7's endurance was particularly strong, which made me feel relieved. It is precisely because we have put so much effort into battery technology that we have such outstanding performance.

So, you see, driving on your own, learning to race, participating in winter testing, it all looks simple. But what is my experience? Courage is not a slogan, it is every step we take.

Netizens have been urging me to perform a drift in the past few months. I remembered that during a live stream, I boasted that I could drift, and then netizens started urging me to do it. I finally built up the courage and filmed a segment, it wasn't very good, but would you all like to take a look? It's quite handsome, let's take a look at Lei Jun performing a drift.

This is such an exciting business. I am grateful for the accident three years ago, which led me to join such an interesting industry.

From 3,000 to 120,000 in 04.

That's how we worked tirelessly for more than three years in the process of development, keeping very low-key without any publicity. What you are seeing and hearing are all rumors or leaks.

At the end of last year, the first appearance of Xiaomi's car made many people think it was a fluke. So at first the popularity was particularly high, but after a few days, there were all kinds of doubts, criticisms, and denigrations.

The most frequently asked question was: Why can you make it in three years when Apple can't make it in ten? I think this is a very difficult question to answer. I don't know why Apple can't make it in ten years. I think three years is a standard time, and I don't know how to answer. The wave of negative news was overwhelming, and several friendly competitors added fuel to the fire, ridiculing and mocking us everywhere.

Everyone has heard the saying: 'Lei, give up, it's all XX out there.'

These are all small things. The real difficulty was the SU7 that we, 7,000 people, had poured countless efforts into. When we communicated with everyone two or three months before the launch, we found that everyone thought it would not sell.

I told them that our experience was much better than that of the Model 3. They told me that everyone who buys the Model 3 is a die-hard Tesla and Musk fan who would not buy your SU7. I said, well, then should users of 34C (BMW 3 Series, Audi A4, and Mercedes C-Class, the entry-level models of BBA) upgrade to a smarter electric car?

Several departments prepared three reports for me, each of which was several dozen pages long. The only core sentence that caught my attention was: 'Users in their thirties only buy brands, so why should they buy SU7?' After more than three years of work by so many people, after spending one to two hundred billion yuan, why can't we sell it?

I asked the marketing department to invite some media friends to help come up with ideas. A total of 23 were invited. I never expected that the vast majority of them didn't see the potential, and they thought that selling 3,000 units per month would be a miracle.

Everyone spoke their minds, but I felt a little dissatisfied. I tried to persuade them. They were very knowledgeable about the industry and had more experience than me. I talked for two or three hours, my mouth dry, but it was completely useless. I couldn't change their opinion, and the entire team was shrouded in anxiety.

I don't know if you all still remember, it was probably in March of this year, many people said I looked haggard, there were a few unflattering photos online. At that time, I was extremely depressed. At my lowest point, I remembered a car I test drove, which was bought by a colleague. I borrowed it for a few days and it was a Ford Mustang, a 400,000-yuan performance car. The colleague told me that the car was his dream car, a reward he bought for himself after working for ten years. He told me that every morning when he got into the car on his way to work, when he stepped on the gas, his blood boiled. He would even sit in the car for a while after he got home in the evening.

I can still remember the impact his words had on me at that moment. I truly believe that life is worth rewarding, especially with a Dream Car. Our Xiaomi SU7 is designed for people like him, so I believe in people's desire for a Dream Car, I believe in the full investment of the entire team for more than three years, and I believe in the charm and powerful product power of the Xiaomi SU7. No matter how many people don't like it, I always believe that the SU7 will sell well.

Actually, the real test of my confidence was in February of this year, when we had to determine production capacity.

Auto production is very complex, and the supply chain is very long. We need to determine the annual production capacity in February. How much should we set? Many suggest setting it at 0.03 million units as it is more stable. I am very conflicted because if we set too much and can't sell them all, it will be a problem, but if we set too little, we may not have enough to sell. Everyone will criticize me for starving the market. I remember accepting an interview with CCTV in February or March and saying that I was extremely conflicted because I'm afraid I won't sell enough, but I'm also worried that I won't be able to sell them all. At this time, my confidence allowed me to make a decision. Do you know how many we set at the beginning of the year? 76,000 units (annual production capacity). What does this mean? Subtracting the climbing time, we sell 0.01 million units per month.

There is only one Model 3 of pure electric vehicle that sells 0.01 million units per month, which means that our goal has been one of the top since the first day.

If we cannot sell them, it means something serious. Maybe you don't have a concept of what it means to not be able to sell the cars, well, our factory can only store vehicles for 3 days. Can you imagine how big a parking lot for 1,000 cars is? If you have 0.01 million unsold units, how many football fields will you need to rent for parking? At the beginning, there were cars piled up all over, so it was a catastrophe for us.

I know that setting the goal of 76,000 units is crazy, but I also know that we have no way out, just like soldiers crossing a river, we can only keep charging ahead.

In my huge anxiety, the release date was getting closer and closer. Before the mid-March launch, we held the only media test drive event and the media finally got to experience the SU7. Some people began to change their views, saying that they couldn't imagine that this was Xiaomi's first car, its completeness was so high, and it was also very advanced. They said that Xiaomi indeed has talent. My heart was slightly relieved.

An even bigger challenge was pricing. If we priced it wrong, the consequences would be unimaginable. Billions of losses and 3 years of time would be wasted.

Many people don't understand that new energy vehicles and pure electric vehicles are two different concepts. New energy vehicles include range extenders and plug-in hybrid vehicles, and the cost of pure electric vehicles is very high. Except for Tesla, all pure electric vehicles are losing a huge amount of money. Therefore, reasonable pricing is what keeps our business sustainable. Super low price is just a stopgap measure. At that time, there were rumors online that the SU7 would be priced at 0.149 million yuan or even 0.099 million yuan. This was too absurd, you were just making trouble.

But the bigger pressure came from inside our company. We had a short time to make the final pricing decision, the day before the launch event, but the debate was fierce. I believe that our SU7 configuration and user experience are far superior to the Model 3. We should have the courage to set the price at 0.2159 million yuan, which is already 0.03 million cheaper than the Model 3, and I think our competitiveness is already very strong. But the sales team were still very worried.

After I finished speaking, the entire venue was silent, and I felt very helpless. It was completely silent until a senior executive at the scene said, "Just set this price, no matter how many units are sold, Xiaomi will recognize it."

On March 28th, at the launch event, I was extremely nervous and my voice was hoarse, like a student who had been studying hard for 10 years was finally taking his college entrance exam. I spoke for about half an hour on stage before I finally began to relax. When I talked about who the SU7 was made for, many words that had been weighing on me for three years blurted out. I said that the SU7 was made for a group of people who are not willing to be mediocre, who are still fighting for their dreams, who long for advanced technology and a happy life. They have fire in their hearts, light in their eyes, and are full of optimistic and confident radiance all over their body.

When I announced the price, the audience cheered, and I thought to myself that the Xiaomi SU7 should be successful now.

After the launch event, I was interviewed by the media. A colleague ran over excitedly and told me that we sold 0.01 million units in 4 minutes and 0.05 million units in 27 minutes. At that moment, everything seemed so wonderful. For three years, all the pain, grievances, and misunderstandings disappeared. My colleague also told me that many customers had not even test-driven or seen the car before placing their orders.

With the huge success of the SU7, and with the joint efforts of all our partners, we set a new delivery target in May: guaranteed delivery of 0.1 million units and strive for 0.12 million units.

Because we only began sales in April and had only 9 months to reach the goal with climbing up, this target is a huge challenge for all our partners in the Xiaomi car supply chain. This is our promise to our Mi Fans.

The success of the Xiaomi SU7's first battle means that Xiaomi cars have finally squeezed onto the stage. But we still have a long way to go for true success. Our Long March has just begun.

For me and for Xiaomi, the past three years have been a transformative experience. Behind the success of the Xiaomi SU7 lies enormous courage, not just from one person, but from more than 0.04 million Xiaomi employees. Courage does not come from the absence of fear, but from facing fear and remaining resolute. Courage comes from a firm belief, an unceasing passion and each step taken carefully. Courage is the greatest battle song of humanity.

Friends, I hope you will always have the determination to move forward bravely and the courage to overcome difficulties.

Editor/Somer