AutoWechat News, at 7 p.m. on March 28th, the highly anticipated Xiaomi Auto SU7 launch conference officially kicked off in Beijing. As Xiaomi Group’s first effort to enter the new energy vehicle market, SU7 carries the expectations and curiosity of countless Mi fans. At the SU7 launch site, leaders of auto companies such as Li Bin, He Xiaopeng, Li Xiang, Zhang Jianyong, and Wei Jianjun came to cheer on the spot.
Lei Jun announced at the press conference that SU7 has launched three models, among which the standard version of SU7 is sold for 215,900 yuan (rear-wheel drive), the SU7 Pro is sold for 245,900 yuan (rear-wheel drive), and the SU7 Max is sold for 299,900 yuan (four-wheel drive).
For the appearance of Xiaomi Auto SU7, I believe that everyone has a pretty good understanding under the massive promotion of Xiaomi Auto. Here is a brief review. As the first model of Xiaomi Auto, the appearance design of Xiaomi Auto SU7 is really impressive. It can be seen that the front face of Xiaomi Auto SU7 adopts a very sporty design. The headlights adopt a rounded polygonal shape, and the interior adopts a similar rice-shaped lamp cavity structure to increase recognition. In addition, a real air duct is equipped under the headlights to help the brake system cool, and the lower bumper and engine hood highlight the sporty feel, quite like a sports car. In terms of color matching, Xiaomi Auto SU7 provides consumers with elegant gray, bay blue, olive green, lava red, pearl white, meteor blue, Cambrian gray, and dawn purple and other color matching.
On the side of the body, Xiaomi Auto SU7 has very smooth body lines, presenting a similar coupe feeling. The slip-back tail design and the outward-expanding wheel eyebrow design are easily reminiscent of the elements of a certain German luxury brand.
At the rear of the car, the new car adopts the popular through-type taillight design, and the upturned ducktail design is very beautiful. The rear bumper is added with decorative pieces of the same color as the body, showing a more dynamic style. It is worth mentioning that the tail logo is the modified “xiaomi” pinyin style. The lower left corner is the “Beijing Xiaomi” logo, and the lower right corner of the standard version is the “SU7” logo, and the high-version is the “SU7 Max” logo. In terms of size, the length, width, and height of Xiaomi Auto SU7 are 4997/1963/1440mm, and the wheelbase is 3000mm, positioned as a medium and large pure electric sedan.
In terms of the interior, based on the “people-centered” cockpit interaction architecture and the support of Xiaomi’s surging OS operating system, Xiaomi Auto SU7 can achieve a comprehensive shared ecosystem from hardware to software. The cockpit provides a 16.1-inch center console screen, a 56-inch HUD, a 7.1-inch flip-type instrument screen, and provides two native car machine system Xiaomi Pad rear expansion screens. It is matched with the Snapdragon 8295 cockpit chip, which can achieve five-screen linkage, support CarPlay and airplay, and support Apple iPad on the car.
In terms of power, Xiaomi Auto SU7 provides two power versions of SU7 and SU7 Max for model selection. Among them, Xiaomi Auto SU7 is equipped with a rear motor system with a maximum power of 299 horsepower and a maximum torque of 400 N·m, and the CLTC pure electric cruising range is 668 kilometers. The system supports 400-volt fast charging. Xiaomi Auto SU7 Max is equipped with a front and rear dual-motor system, with a maximum power of 673 horsepower and a maximum torque of 838 N·m. The CLTC pure electric cruising range is 800 kilometers, and the system supports 800-volt fast charging. In other aspects, Xiaomi Auto SU7 adopts a front double wishbone and rear five-link independent suspension, and is equipped with Xiaomi Blast Smart Chassis, equipped with CDC damping variable shock absorbers, Bosch ESP10.0 body stability system, Bosch DPB brake controller, Brembo four-piston fixed calipers and other configurations.
On March 31, 2021, Lei Jun officially announced at the Xiaomi press conference that it had entered the electric vehicle industry and planned to invest $10 billion in 10 years to create electric vehicles. At the press conference, Lei Jun said: “Xiaomi’s car is the last major entrepreneurial project in my life. I am willing to bet my entire reputation and lead the team in person to fight for Xiaomi’s car.”
As a technology company, Xiaomi’s investment in the automotive field far exceeds that of other automakers. According to the official, the first model of Xiaomi’s car has invested 3,400 engineers, and the R&D cost exceeds 10 billion yuan. In 2022, Xiaomi Group spent as much as 6.7 billion yuan on innovative businesses such as smart electric vehicles. Various signs indicate that Xiaomi is fully sprinting in the smart electric vehicle market, striving to gain the upper hand in this cutting-edge area.
Before Xiaomi SU7 goes on the market, the biggest suspense is the price. Xiaomi’s car wants a Dream Car that can rival Porsche and Tesla, but more young consumers, or Mi fans, still hope that Xiaomi’s first car can continue to make friends with young people and call out a price similar to Xiaomi’s first mobile phone, but this is almost impossible. Lei Jun previously said that Xiaomi SU7 “is a little expensive, but it is worth the price”, which has raised many speculations.
According to the price announced by Xiaomi’s car, the main competitors of Xiaomi SU7 will include Xiaopeng P7, BYD Han, Geely 001/007, Zhiji S7, Tesla Model 3 and other mid-to-high-end smart electric sedans. Among these models, the highest-selling one is Han. Taking 2023 as an example, BYD Han sold 227,700 units throughout the year, of which 105,900 were pure electric versions, while only the pure electric version of Model 3 sold 147,300 units, which is the highest-selling pure electric car above 200,000. The market above 200,000 is the most fiercely competitive market for electric vehicles. Xiaomi SU7 will face too many opponents. As a technology company, although compared with these models, Xiaomi SU7 may have an advantage in ecological interaction and intelligent driving, and the appearance design also conforms to the taste of young people, as a cross-border player, if Xiaomi wants to gain a foothold in the auto-racing track, in addition to presenting a convincing product, it is more necessary to work hard in experience, service, etc., so that consumers can truly feel the distinctive value.
However, Lei Jun is full of confidence in the future of Xiaomi SU7, “Xiaomi SU7 will be a high-quality sedan with a price within 500,000 yuan, combining beauty, performance, and intelligence.” He emphasized that when it comes to intelligence and ecology, no matter what the price of the sedan is, SU7 will be “the best”. During the Two Sessions, Lei Jun also said, “We will go all out to do a good job and make Xiaomi’s car successful, so as not to disappoint users across the country.” “We will spend 15-20 years constantly striving and become one of the top five car manufacturers in the world. Therefore, I believe Xiaomi’s car will definitely succeed.”
For Lei Jun and Xiaomi’s car, there is no turning back. As a rookie in the auto industry, Lei Jun should pay the price for making cars to some extent. The difficulty of making cars is already unimaginable. In the auto industry, we have witnessed too much, such as mergers and acquisitions, delisting and bankruptcy. Fortunately, Xiaomi Group has abundant funds, which can underpin the R&D, production, sales, and promotion of Xiaomi’s car, but success or failure, the market will always give the answer.
