Countdown of Xiaomi automobile mass production

Recently, the hottest topic in the car circle is "Is Xiaomi car really coming?" , withSU7, a Xiaomi * car, has been listed in the latest catalogue of new energy vehicles exempted from purchase tax by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.(hereinafter referred to as the "catalogue"), there are more and more discussions about Xiaomi Automobile.

In the little red book, there are more than 20,000 notes about Xiaomi Automobile, and Weibo ShangXiaomi Automobile ranks among the top four in the auto talk; On December 12th, when the Catalogue was published, the Weibo index of Xiaomi Automobile exceeded 41.3 million.

A number of bloggers in Weibo posted that the launch of Xiaomi Auto was scheduled for December 28th and December 15th, and a number of photos suspected of "Xiaomi SU7" were posted on Weibo.

Image source: Weibo screenshot

In this regard, the relevant person of Xiaomi Group said that there is no comment at present, please wait for the official news.On October 25 this year, Lei Jun said in his personal Weibo’s reply to relevant questions, "Xiaomi Automobile is progressing very smoothly at present, and will be officially listed in the first half of next year. When appropriate, I will report to you in a centralized manner."

The rims are waiting for Lei Jun’s Xiaomi Auto Conference, which will turn Xiaomi Auto from a dream into a reality.After all, there were many "lessons from the past" such as Xu Jiayin, Jia Yueting and Yao Zhenhua before, so there are expectations and doubts about "millet making cars" in the market.; However, although Lei Jun is also a layman in building cars, he should not let the market down by gambling on the "last major venture".

1. Who are the "car makers" of Xiaomi Automobile?

While the power indicators such as Xiaomi SU7′ s maximum battery life of 800 kilometers attract people’s attention,Who is the "car maker" of Xiaomi Automobile has also received much attention.—— From the internal team to the manufacturer and then to the component suppliers, they are all hotly discussed by the car circle.

According to the comprehensive news from all parties, the internal senior management team of Xiaomi Automobile is very strong.Lei Jun is the CEO of Xiaomi Automobile and is equipped with four "powerful assistants" (vice presidents), namely Hong Feng, Lu Weibing, Yu Liguo and Li Xiaoshuang..

Yu Liguo, who once worked for BAIC Group, officially announced his joining Xiaomi in January 2022.And served as the political commissar of Xiaomi Automobile Beijing Headquarters, responsible for coordinating the comprehensive management of Xiaomi Automobile, promoting special business, organizing and talent building of Xiaomi Automobile Beijing Headquarters, and reporting to Lei Jun.

According to public information, Yu Liguo has a wide network of contacts in the circle. He served as the head of the strategic planning department of BAIC Group, a member of the Party Committee of BAIC New Energy, and an executive deputy general manager of BAIC New Energy. He also served as the chairman of Blue Valley Smart Energy Company and the president of ARCFOX business unit.The brand-new brand of Extreme Fox Automobile was established under the leadership of the founding of the People’s Republic of China..

According to some insiders, what Xiaomi Automobile is most interested in is Yu Liguo’s all-round performance in the process of establishing the brand of Extreme Fox.It was Yu Liguo’s joining that gave Lei Jun the confidence to insist on building a car..

Interestingly, in the filing information of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the enterprise name of Xiaomi SU7 is Beijing Automotive Group Off-road Vehicle Co., Ltd., and the registered address is No.1 Tongxin Road, Zhaofeng Industrial Base, Zhaoquanying Town, Shunyi District, Beijing; However, the production address is No.21, Huanjing Road, Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone, and the production address is actually Xiaomi Yizhuang Automobile Factory.

Image source: screenshot of the announcement document of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology

The industry believes that Xiaomi Automobile borrows the production qualification of Beiqi off-road, which is conducive to accelerating the production progress of Xiaomi Automobile.Whether Yu Liguo, an "old Beiqi man", played a role in it remains to be solved by Lei Jun in the future.

In addition to Yu Liguo, the other three vice presidents, Hong Feng, Lu Weibing and Li Xiaoshuang, are all senior officials of Xiaomi.

amongHong Feng is the "co-founder" of XiaomiSince 2010, Xiaomi has been founded with Lei Jun, focusing on the development of Xiaomi’s financial business.

Lu Weibing officially joined Xiaomi in 2019At first, he was mainly responsible for the Redmi brand in Redmi. In August 2020, Lei Jun announced that Xiaomi started the journey of "re-starting a business".Lu Weibing became a partner of Xiaomi, the "co-founder" of Xiaomi in the next decade..

In the past two years, after Lu Weibing took the position of "co-founder", he was promoted quickly within Xiaomi; In addition to entering the list of Xiaomi Auto’s core team, Lu Weibing has been the executive director of Beijing Xiaomi Software Technology Co., Ltd., the deputy director of Xiaomi Group’s management Committee, the deputy director of the Group’s Human Resources Committee and the chairman of Xiaomi Group’s brand Committee since this year.

butLi Xiaoshuang is "curve into the meter"Li Xiaoshuang, who graduated with a master’s degree in 2007, is a young man among many senior executives. Earlier, he worked in the personal company of Wang Chuan, the co-founder of Xiaomi Group. Later, Xiaomi bought the company, and Li Xiaoshuang became a member of Xiaomi.

In February 2020, Li Xiaoshuang became the general manager of Xiaomi’s household appliances department. One year later, he joined the core team of Xiaomi Automobile and was initially responsible for supply chain management.

In addition to the "four donkey kong" of the vice president, Lei Jun also hired a number of executives from outside.

Among them, in September this year, from the global supplier Magna China Vice President,Huang ZhenyuJoin Xiaomi to replace Li Xiaoshuang as the general manager of the supply chain department; Li Xiaoshuang was replaced as the general manager of Xiaomi Automobile Marketing Department; Former president of Geely research instituteHu zhengnanAs a senior consultant of Xiaomi Automobile; The appearance of Xiaomi car is made by the former BMW IX model designer.LitianyuanDesign.

According to industry media reports,During his tenure at Magna, Huang Zhenyu participated in many cooperations between Magna and BAIC New Energy., including the establishment of "Blue Valley Magna" joint venture factory-"Beiqi Blue Valley Intelligent Manufacturing Base" and the mass production of the polar fox ARCFOX αT* model.

Judging from the work experience, Yu Liguo and Huang Jin Woo, who served as the chairman of Blue Valley Smart Energy Company and the president of ARCFOX Division in BAIC Group, may have business intersections.Together, will Xiaomi Automobile have the taste of Beiqi Extreme Fox?

2. Huawei, Ideality, Ningde, BYD …"Blinking" Xiaomi Automobile Friends Circle

In addition to the glamorous resumes of internal executives, Xiaomi’s suppliers are also strong enough.

According to the filing information of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Xiaomi SU7 is equipped with two cars respectively.Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited ternary lithium ion battery, BYD Foday lithium iron phosphate battery and Suzhou Huichuan United Power System Co., Ltd.(referred to as "Huichuan Power")And the motor of United Automotive Electronics Co., Ltd..

Image source: screenshot of the announcement of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited and BYD need not say more. "Ningwang" has a global market share *, and many car companies such as Tesla, Ideality, Weilai, Nezha and Extreme Krypton are using Ningde batteries; BYD’s own car alone is enough to support the development of its battery business.　

"Fun Business" combed and found that the two companies that provide motors to Xiaomi SU7 are not small.. Among them, "Huichuan Power" is a subsidiary of the listed company Shenzhen Huichuan Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Huichuan Technology", 300124.SZ).The "Huichuan Technology" was actually built by the early "old Huawei people" team..

According to public information,Many directors and senior executives of Huichuan Technology have worked in Huawei Electric Technology Co., Ltd. and Emerson Network Energy Co., Ltd., including the actual controller "post-60s" Zhu Xingming, vice president Li Ruilin, deputy general manager Yang Chunlu, vice president Yi Gaoxiang, vice president and director Zhou Bin, deputy general manager and director Song Junen, director Li Juntian and director Liu Yuchuan, generally aged from 40 to 50.

These early "Huawei people" formed Huichuan Technology together after Huawei sold Huawei Electric Technology Co., Ltd. to Emerson in the United States, andIn the field of motor control of new energy vehicles, it has become second only to BYD and Tesla..

According to the statistics of the new media "NE Times", the share of Huichuan technology new energy passenger car motor controller products in the domestic market is 9.2%.The product share of motor controller is among the third-party suppliers *; The share of new energy passenger car motor products in the domestic market is 3.7%, ranking seventh among TOP10 suppliers.

butHuichuan Power, a subsidiary of Huichuan Technology, is currently in the IPO counseling period., with Huichuan New Energy Automobile Technology (Changzhou) Co., Ltd. and Huichuan New Energy Automobile Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., and shares in Changzhou Huixiang New Energy Automobile Parts Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Changzhou Huixiang").

Among them, Changzhou Huixiang New Energy Auto Parts Co., Ltd. is actually a joint venture between LI and Huichuan Power; Equity relations show that,Li Xiang’s Beijing Chehejia Automobile Technology Co., Ltd. holds 87.34% shares in Changzhou Huixiang.

Image source: enterprise check screenshot

According to the content of "Know the Car Emperor", the car companies currently using Huichuan technology include Tesla, BYD, Huawei, Wuling, Ideality, Changan Automobile and so on.

Image source: Understand the screenshot of the car emperor

Beyond Huichuan Power, another oneUnited Automotive Electronics Co., Ltd., which provides motor equipment for Xiaomi SU7, is backed by SAIC, Bosch and other large groups, and Longsheng Technology (300680.SZ), a A-share listed company, provides motor core products for it..

Besides,The ABS(ESP10) of Xiaomi SU7 also comes from Bosch Auto Parts (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.As a brand with a global market share *, Bosch naturally helps to enhance the brand power of Xiaomi Automobile.

But the problem is,In February, 2022, Bosch had affected the supply of Great Wall Motor, Changan Automobile and other car companies because of the "lack of core" problem, which led to a large decline in sales of these car companies.; However, the impact on BYD, Volvo, BMW, Toyota and other car companies is limited, mainly because these car companies have or have the ability to develop body stability systems.Therefore, Xiaomi should also have a sense of risk, and should not be easily "stuck" by suppliers after real mass production.

Image source: Weibo screenshot

Last but not least,Entering the "catalogue" does not mean that mass production will be achieved.. In the twenty-first batch of Catalogue released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in November 2018, a total of 141 models had no production or import within 12 months, so they were withdrawn from the Catalogue in 2019. According to the regulations, enterprises should re-declare the models that have been revoked but need to be reinstated.

In 2021, Lei Jun announced that Xiaomi Group had entered the smart electric vehicle business, and it has been more than two years since then. During this period, Lei Jun also expressed satisfaction with the progress of Xiaomi Automobile many times, and it seems that he is also expressing confidence in the market. According to the financial report of Xiaomi Group (1810.HK), Xiaomi Group’s revenue in the third quarter of this year was 70.9 billion yuan, and its adjusted net profit was 6 billion yuan.Among them, 1.7 billion yuan will be invested in innovative businesses such as automobiles, and it is said that the investment in R&D will exceed 100 billion yuan in the next five years..

It is expected that Xiaomi will join the new energy vehicle market as soon as possible and compete with new and old car companies.