Xiaomi CEO posts photo of himself sleeping on factory floor like Elon Musk

On November 13, Xiaomi reached the milestone of 100,000 SU7 vehicles shipped, 230 days after selling the first one. Xiaomi Chairman and CEO Lei Jun celebrated the event by posting a photo of himself sleeping on the factory floor, an iconic image associated with billionaire Elon Musk in the early days of Tesla.

Analysts say Lei Jun may be expressing admiration for Tesla's CEO but is also implicitly sending a message that the Chinese brand will soon develop like Tesla in the West.

In a Weibo post, Xiaomi CEO said this was "astonishing speed for a new company entering the auto industry." In 2018, when Tesla ramped up production of the Model 3, Elon Musk also practically moved into the factory, working day and night and sleeping right where the car was made. As a result, Tesla has achieved incredible milestones and become one of the most valuable car manufacturers in the world .

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun posts photo of himself sleeping on the floor like billionaire Elon Musk

In a 2022 article on Business Insider , Mr. Musk admitted that he “lived at the factory in Fremont, California (USA) and a factory in Nevada for three consecutive years.” He called these places home when he started his electric car company Tesla.

Earlier this year, an old video of Musk speaking at a conference in New York went viral, explaining why he slept on the factory floor. “I didn’t do it because I couldn’t cross the street or go to a hotel,” Musk said. “I wanted to make my situation worse than anyone else’s. Whenever they were having a hard time, I would be the mirror that showed them they were better off than me.”

In contrast to Mr. Musk, the "Steve Jobs of China" posted a picture of himself sleeping on the floor with a confident attitude. Xiaomi shows that although it started out as a smartphone manufacturer, when it switched to making electric cars, it was not inferior to the big names in the industry.

It took Xiaomi 230 days to reach the milestone of 100,000 cars produced, while Li Auto took 1.9 years and Xpeng needed 2.8 years to reach the same figure. One of the biggest reasons for Lei Jun's speed is the highly automated production system.

Xiaomi is focusing on growth over profits

Xiaomi began delivering SU7 electric vehicles in late March. Since then, sales have continued to grow. In October, the company delivered more than 20,000 vehicles to customers. From June to September, Xiaomi delivered more than 10,000 electric vehicles each month. The company is expected to deliver its 100,000th vehicle by the end of this month.

Xiaomi is selling electric vehicles in its home market. The first model is the SU7, which starts at $29,800. The company has plans for seven new models, including an SUV to rival the Tesla Model Y, with deliveries expected in the first quarter of 2025.

Despite its record production and sales, Xiaomi faces a number of challenges in entering the highly competitive electric vehicle market. In China, it faces Tesla and major domestic automakers such as BYD.

Another challenge for Xiaomi is that the company is still losing about $9,000 on each electric vehicle sold. Xiaomi CFO Alain Lam told Bloomberg that the company is now focused on growth rather than profits. "We believe that scale will bring profits in the future. Xiaomi needs to continue to invest in electric vehicles," Lam said.

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has pledged to invest $10 billion in electric vehicles. He aims to make Xiaomi one of the world's top five automakers in the next 15-20 years.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ceo-xiaomi-dang-anh-ngu-tren-san-nha-may-giong-ong-elon-musk-185241116232659262.htm