Top 5 mobile phone maker enters crowded EV market
Top 5 mobile phone maker enters crowded EV market
50,000 pre-orders of the Xiaomi SU7 within 30 minutes
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Mobile phone and electronics maker, Xiaomi (小米), launched its first electric vehicle last week.
At an event held in its Beijing factory on March 28, guests including founders of EV brands NIO (蔚来) and X-Peng (小鹏汽车), gathered as Xiaomi founder Léi Jūn 雷军 revealed the sporty four-door sedan SU7 ("SU" stands for "speed ultra").
The price of the car was decided only hours before the launch.
The base model of the 5,000 “Founder’s Edition” cars (创始版) is 215,900 yuan (around $33,000 USD). That's intentionally 30,000 yuan ($4,000 USD) cheaper than the price of a Tesla Model 3 in China, in a bid to demonstrate "sincerity" to customers, as Lei Jun explains:
Tesla is the pioneer and the global benchmark, so I've decided to drop the price by 30,000 to pay our respect. The decision made sense to many people, so that's how we arrived at this price.
特斯拉是前辈、全球标杆，我们先降3万为敬。这个定完价，大家觉得我讲的有道理，就这么干了。 [2]
And that’s despite Lei Jun’s claims that the SU7 is higher spec than its international competitor.
Xiaomi is well placed to enter a competitive market:
From day one, Xiaomi Auto has more than demonstrated its strengths in car design and manufacturing, smart technology, as well as its ecosystem. Amidst the brutal price war in the EV sector, veteran Lei Jun remained clear-eyed and set a price that hit the mark.
从整车、到智能，再到生态，小米汽车一问世就展现了长板够长、不留短板的强悍姿态。而在行业价格战踩踏之下，老将雷军保持了清醒，给出了一击命中的定价。 [2]
Xiaomi also made effective use of its tried-and-tested formula of creating and launching a brand:
"Traffic + design + quality control" (流量+设计+品控).
The SU7 is a culmination of three years of hard work. Lei Jun announced his plans in 2021:
On March 30, 2021, Xiaomi announced its plan to build cars. Lei Jun said, "I'll bet my entire reputation and achievements on car manufacturing." Three years later, it's clear he has meticulously implemented that plan.
2021年3月30日，小米宣布造车，雷军放话，将为造车业务赌上“所有声誉和战绩”，三年来，他进行了周密的操盘。 [2]
Xiaomi Auto is Lei Jun's last entrepreneurial endeavour.
He set aside $10 billion US dollars as cash reserves for the project.
And his launch of the SU7 certainly delivered.
Before the event had even finished, Xiaomi’s die-hard fans, known as "rice noodles" (米粉) in Chinese, a combination of "mi" (米) of Xiaomi, and "fans" (粉), were already buying.
Within 4 minutes, pre-orders of SU7 surpassed ten thousand units. 27 minutes later, the pre-orders surpassed fifty thousand. The industry marvelled at how "Xiaomi booked a factory's annual production capacity within half an hour". For other new-comers in the industry, this usually takes half a year or even longer.
小米首款车SU7上市仅4分钟，大定订单就破万；27分钟后，大定订单突破5万个。行业惊叹，“几乎半小时卖出了工厂一年的产能”，这对于其他新造车公司，通常需要半年乃至更久。[2]
A deposit of 20,000 yuan was required to pre-order the first 5,000 units, the Xiaomi SU7 Founder's Edition. A deposit of 5,000 yuan was needed to preorder other models. So Xiaomi cars generated over 300 million yuan ($47 million USD) in revenue in just under half an hour.
The launch of the SU7 was big news in China's business world, seeing Xiaomi achieve something that Apple, the company Lei Jun seeks to emulate, tried but failed to do.
The American firm scrapped it plans to build EVs this year.
Lei Jun bluntly stated that he would never make that decision. "I think this is a strategy that we should absolutely not let go of." [2]
雷军直言，他绝对不会做这个决策，“我觉得这是个完全不能放弃的战略。” [2]
But, there is still a long way to go for Lei Jun and Xiaomi. As one media commentator points out:
However, compared to Lei Jun's planned investment of 10 billion US dollars in car manufacturing, this amount [made on preorders] is merely a drop in the ocean.
但这与雷军准备的100亿美元对造车的投入相比，实属九牛一毛。
So, that’s what we are exploring this week!
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Favourite Five
1. 米粉 mǐ fěn
Xiaomi fans
现在也是如出一辙，小米挟米粉之势从智能手机市场进入新能源的地盘 - Now it's the same story. Xiaomi, with the support of its fans, crosses over from the smartphone market to the EV sector. [1]
Related:
铁粉 tiě fěn - die-hard fan
2. 卷王 juǎn wáng
involution king, the most competitive one
汽车价格战还有比手机更卷吗，我们从小卷到大，我们才是卷王 - The EV price war is not going to be more brutal than that in the smartphone industry. We're used to competition and we're the king of it. [2]
Related:
内卷 nèi juǎn - involution
3. 九牛一毛 jiǔ niú yì máo
nine cows and one strand of cow hair; a drop in the ocean
这与雷军准备的100亿美元对造车的投入相比，实属九牛一毛 - Compared to the $10 billion investment Lei Jun has planned for car manufacturing, it's really just a drop in the ocean. [3]
4. 遥遥领先 yáo yáo lǐng xiān
far ahead, leading by a wide margin
在昨晚的小米汽车上市发布会上，他甚至激动地喊出了“遥遥领先” - At Xiaomi car launch event last night, he even excitedly shouted "way ahead". [3]
Note: This is one of our top phrases of 2023 made famous by Huawei. It's become an ironic phrase implying the opposite. Here it's used humorously.
5. 置之死地而后生 zhì zhī sǐ dì ér hòu shēng
to be driven to desperation and then make a comeback
最后只有5~8家能活得下去，我们第一天就已经是置之死地而后生了 - In the end, only 5 to 8 companies can survive, so we were already driven to desperation on the first day, but then we made a comeback. [3]
Note: Originally from Sun Tzu's Art of War (孙子兵法).
Consuming the Conversations
Useful words
6. 泥潭 ní tán
quagmire
实际上却还是在价格战的泥潭里混战 - In reality, Chinese car-makers are still trapped in the quagmire of price war. [1]
7. 碾压 niǎn yā
to crush, to overwhelm
小米造车就是借助流量对一向沉默的传统制造业实现碾压的一个写照 - The success of Xiaomi Auto tells the story of how it uses online traffic to crush the traditional car makers, which have remained silent. [1]
8. 必胜 bì shèng
assured success
确保雷军“必胜”的核心，依然是产品力、智能科技和米家生态 - Lei Jun’s confidence that Xiaomi Auto is going to make it still comes from its product strength, smart technology, and the Xiaomi ecosystem. [2]
9. 撞脸 zhuàng liǎn
to resemble, to look alike
外观上，小米SU7已经凭借“撞脸保时捷”率先出圈 - The uncanny resemblance of Xiaomi SU7 to a Porsche in design has attracted a lot of attention. [2]
Note: often used humorously or sarcastically.
10. 比肩 bǐ jiān
to be on par with, to rival
几乎以性能车定位，比肩比亚迪的小型车海鸥 - Xiaomi SU7 positions itself almost as a performance car, which rivals BYD's compact car, the Seagull. [2]
Related:
较量 jiào liàng - competition, contest
11. 跨界 kuà jiè
to cross boundaries, to enter a different field or industry
在汽车智能方面凸显出这家消费电子巨头跨界进入造车行业的技术优势 - The technological advantage of this consumer electronics giant crossing over to the automotive industry is shown in smart car technologies.[2]
12. 砸钱 zá qián
invest or spend heavily
配置高不是我比Elon Musk（特斯拉CEO）有能力，是我砸钱砸的 - It's not that I'm more capable than Elon Musk to provide better configurations; it's that I've spent a lot of money. [2]
Three-character phrases
13. 掀桌子 xiān zhuō zi
to flip the table
延续了去年动辄“掀桌子”似的竞争，今年的汽车市场开场即炸裂 - The price war this year is as intense and as brutal as last year. With the launch of Xiaomi SU7, this year's automotive market exploded right from the start. [1]
14. 马拉松 mǎ lā sōng
marathon
这是一场马拉松，比的是耐力，比的是后劲，我们更重视核心技术的积累 - This is a marathon. It's about endurance, it's about staying power, and we place more emphasis on the core technology. [3]
Related:
淘汰赛 táo tài sài - elimination round
15. 实打实 shí dǎ shí
solid, practical, down-to-earth
每一步都从核心技术做起，都是实打实的，每一件事情都用10倍的投入来走 - Every step starts from the core technology. It's all solid, practical work, and every single thing is done with ten times the investment. [3]
Idioms
16. 清汤寡水 qīng tāng guǎ shuǐ
meager resources or prospects
过于激烈的竞争等于大家都端起了清汤寡水的饭碗，甚至很可能丢了饭碗 - Excessively intense competition is like everyone being left with meager prospects, and it's even likely that they'll lose their livelihoods. [1]
Note: Literally translates as "clear soup and bland water"
17. 土生土长 tǔ shēng tǔ zhǎng
native-born and bred, indigenous
我们是一家土生土长的北京企业，所以我们2月份在昌平建了小米的手机工厂 - We are a native-born and bred Beijing enterprise, so we built Xiaomi's smartphone factory in Changping in February. [2]
18. 轻车熟路 qīng chē shú lù
familiar
小米还是在制造业用起了熟悉的“流量+设计+品控”的套路，这当然并不容易，却也轻车熟路 - Xiaomi applied the tried and tested "traffic + design + quality control" strategy to manufacturing. This is of course not easy, but it's a familiar approach. [1]
Phrases
19. 上了一课 shàng le yí kè
to teach a lesson
小米给深陷降价漩涡里的造车新势力和传统车厂上了一课 - Xiaomi set an example for the new EV companies and traditional car manufacturers that are trapped in the price war. [1]
Note: “new car making forces” (造车新势力 zào chē xīn shì lì) is how China’s EV main brands are described.
20. 三年磨一剑 sān nián mó yí jiàn
sharpening a sword for three years; taking a long time to prepare something
三年磨一剑，三个月塑造销售高潮，小米汽车终于开卖 - After three years of sharpening the sword, three months of building up for the launch, Xiaomi's car finally goes on sale. [1]
More: This is an adaptation of the phrase “ten years of sharpening a sword" (十年磨一剑 shí nián mó yī jiàn).
21. 难上青天 nán shàng qīng tiān
hard to ascend to the blue sky; extremely difficult to achieve
你要把车做到这么运动，这么低趴，那个是难上青天的 - If you want to build a car that is both sporty and hella flush, that's extremely difficult to achieve. [2]
Background: Originally from the Li Bai poem, “Ode to the Hard Roads of Shu” (蜀道难 shǔ dào nán). The line is: “The road to Shu is harder than scaling the sky afar!” (蜀道难，难于上青天！)
22. 一波又一波 yì bō yòu yì bō
wave after wave
围绕小米汽车的外观设计、路测、价格，掀起了一波又一波流量高峰 - Xiaomi's car design, road testing, and pricing have generated waves of internet traffic. [2]
23. 强者愈强，弱者愈弱 qiáng zhě yù qiáng, ruò zhě yù ruò
the strong get stronger, the weak get weaker
留给国内制造业的连锁反应就是马太效应，强者愈强，弱者愈弱 - That has created the Matthew Effect for the domestic manufacturing industry, where the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker. [1]
Note: The Matthew Effect (马太效应) is one of those Western concepts that is more often quoted in Chinese than in the English language.
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