Introduction

YU7 has made history again, racking up nearly 300,000 orders in just one hour. This feat surpasses even Tesla, challenging China's new automotive forces.

On June 23, Lei Jun announced on his personal social media platform that Xiaomi Automobile's second model, its first SUV, the YU7, would be officially released in three days. Now, a year and three months after the launch of the SU7, YU7 has arrived.

Needless to say, everyone from industry insiders to the general public, from potential customers to existing users, is eagerly awaiting Lei Jun to bring another groundbreaking product to the market.

As usual, Xiaomi's press conference this time was lengthy. After introducing various consumer electronics devices, the debut of YU7 was the grand finale. However, under its orderly pace, YU7 unleashed its full potential with a price range of 253,500 to 329,900 yuan, mirroring the success of that year's SU7.

"200,000 orders in 3 minutes; 289,000 orders in 1 hour."

When exceptional product quality once again accurately addresses the pain points of young consumers, it directly rattles all competitors. Relying on the current sales trend of SU7, YU7's future market performance is almost predestined to be a hit. How high it can reach depends on how long the delivery cycle will be.

Since YU7 was announced last month and entered offline stores, market analysis on this car has never stopped. Some say that due to the limitations of the sports SUV market, YU7 will struggle to replicate the success of SU7. Others argue that without an extended-range power option, competitors like AITO and LIXIANG will comprehensively intercept YU7 from various dimensions.

Given the variability of China's auto market and the unpredictable nature of public opinion, we, accustomed to frequent black swan events, often speculate whether YU7 will be affected by future special events, which will also impact sales.

But real store traffic has consistently sent a signal: as long as the young consumer group remains, YU7's combat effectiveness will not be weaker than SU7. With further breakthroughs in product capabilities, it is within Xiaomi's reach to achieve the most basic market expectation of 1+1>2 through YU7.

Before the launch of Xiaomi SU7, it was widely speculated within the automotive industry that SU7's monthly sales performance would not be high. The result? "Hard to get a car" became the reality for Xiaomi Automobile after its market entry. Today, a year later, seeing that SU7 is still at a high sales level, it seems there is no reason for YU7 not to become a hit, regardless of how exaggerated the public scrutiny of Xiaomi is.

01 YU7 Becomes a Hit Again, Not a Victory of Marketing

"SU7 has been released for so long, and there is no rival to SU7, not even one that can compete."

To be honest, based on reality, regardless of Xiaomi's internal mindset towards the success of SU7, this slightly arrogant declaration reflects the confidence behind Xiaomi Automobile's debut at its peak. And for this point, I don't think anyone can refute it.

Before the launch of YU7, Li Bin, Li Xiang, and He Xiaopeng successively retweeted Lei Jun's Weibo post and wished YU7 great sales, seemingly expressing the collective recognition of the new forces for Xiaomi YU7.

Currently, everyone can see how intense the competition pressure in the new energy market is. Around the launch of YU7, Ledao L90, LIXIANG i6, and XPENG G7 are the most competitive opponents in this price range.

In such a scenario, Lei Jun still demonstrates a commanding presence. Whether it's the new forces coming together for warmth or simple blessings, it seems difficult to question YU7's combat effectiveness.

At the press conference, just like when introducing SU7 last year, the exposure of a large number of YU7 product points surprised everyone present.

And under the promotion of building a full ecosystem of people, cars, and homes, Lei Jun even presented a whole set of solutions to cope with new consumption trends. Unlike the surface gimmicks used on SU7, such as phone holders, umbrella slots, and flashlights, everyone can see on YU7 that from the projected HUD to the vehicle exterior voice wakeup of "Xiaoai Classmate," from the range of up to 835km to the emergence of the motion sickness relief mode, Xiaomi Automobile is still spending a lot of effort on the details that consumers care about.

Before the launch of YU7, not only Lei Jun himself but also a large number of media that have already test-driven YU7 have stated that the potential users of SU7 and YU7 do not overlap. Both are sports-oriented models, but they have their own distinct personalities, which means that Xiaomi can replicate the momentum of SU7's popularity in the pure electric SUV segment.

That is to say, regardless of whether you understand the product differences between YU7 and its competitors, YU7 is excellent at mobilizing potential users' purchasing emotions.

All along, the outside world has been discussing who Xiaomi Automobile is selling to and how Lei Jun brought Xiaomi Automobile to a height unprecedented in the industry through marketing.

In fact, based on SU7's performance at all levels over the past year, it is quite explanatory.

You can say that Xiaomi's exterior design always feels familiar, but you have to admit that for the innovation of the entire industrial ecosystem, the leapfrog research and development of vehicle performance, and the construction of the entire Chinese automotive culture, Xiaomi has a clear lead. Do you really think that people who spend 300,000 yuan on Xiaomi Automobiles are just young thrill-seekers who only care about whether it looks like a certain sports car?

Compared to most Chinese automakers, Xiaomi's respect for the automotive industry is very concrete. Those familiar with automotive history will certainly know how difficult it is to create top performance with affordable prices, whether in Europe or in Japan, where the JDM spirit was created. Once a product that can achieve this level appears, it gains great market recognition, which is only right and proper.

Chinese automakers have always talked about overtaking on curves, but the ultimate goal of overtaking on curves is still to return to competition on the same track. The automotive industry was born under the Western industrial system. Therefore, if Chinese automakers want to win respect, they must create history on their turf.

Under this standard, whether you admit it or not, Xiaomi Automobile is unique.

Perhaps, from facing the popularity of a single SU7 to the SU7 Ultra conquering the Nürburgring, as long as you view Xiaomi with prejudice, everything it does is meaningless. But once the development of the automotive industry is taken as the background, even compared with peers, the emotional value that Xiaomi Automobile brings to young people is always obvious, whether it's through exploring new battlefields by grafting the sports departments of foreign brands or simply handing over the soul to outsiders for packaging and then selling cars.

02 Capturing Model Y is Just the First Step

Speaking of which, is Xiaomi Automobile's success created by the times? Since the launch of Xiaomi SU7 at the end of March last year, we have occasionally raised such questions.

Although during March and April of this year, due to the fermentation of multiple emergencies, Xiaomi Automobile encountered its biggest public relations crisis since its inception. Now, after the official launch of the second model, YU7, how much opposition will come from the outside world, the outside world can estimate.

Previously, we were still thinking that the development time for the electrification of the entire population is less than 10 years, and the "deadlock on intelligent transformation" is a new trend that has only emerged in the past one or two years. As a new force among the new forces, how did Xiaomi Automobile make the entire industry ashamed with just one SU7? And topics surrounding Lei Jun himself have occupied nearly half of the hot searches in the entire automotive circle?

But right now, to be honest, as Xiaomi YU7's orders continue to soar and Xiaomi Automobile's market attention increases, its existence is a straightforward expression of other competitors' inferiority. In this way, no matter what means are used to suppress Xiaomi Automobile, it seems to be the most appropriate choice in the dictionaries of these companies.

That is to say, even though everyone knows that Xiaomi YU7's product strength can fully support the potential of a "hit," its existence is indeed a naked threat.

Of course, aside from these irrational external variables, for Xiaomi, there is definitely one clear rival, and that is Tesla. Like Xiaomi, Tesla encountered no less public opinion attacks in its early years, but the sales figures in the market ultimately show that the pros and cons of comprehensive products are ultimately the key to helping companies stand firm in the market.

In the case of Xiaomi YU7, as the strongest competitor in the same price range, no matter how many advantages Tesla Model Y has lost in various aspects, Tesla's American bloodline and the charm of Elon Musk himself are challenges that YU7 must face.

At the same time, regardless of whether the capacity of this market segment can release enough space for newcomers, with the upcoming launch of the two highly anticipated new cars, LIXIANG i6 and XPENG G7, Xiaomi YU7 also needs to be vigilant against the underhand battles in the public opinion field. If we add Huawei's pure electric SUVs to the mix, I think this situation will be even more difficult to handle.

Looking at this year's automotive market, no matter what consumer stimulus policies or public opinion correction methods are issued, intense competition is still everywhere. But for Lei Jun and his Xiaomi Automobile, after experiencing the storm, the launch of YU7 must be done with more respect for the industry and users.

At the moment, when YU7's orders exceed expectations, is this proving that Xiaomi Automobile is getting better? Of course, but on the other hand, Xiaomi is truly telling the outside world that Lei Jun is not treating "car manufacturing" as a business. Compared to making money from SU7 and YU7, Lei Jun wants to create history for Chinese automobiles on the original track, rather than just finding another way to achieve a comeback.

At the end of the press conference, we once again heard Lei Jun express his heartfelt wishes.

He said, "Xiaomi Automobile's users may be those who carry responsibilities on their shoulders but still have a distant place in their hearts, for all those who still have a sea of stars in their hearts amidst the fireworks of daily life. At the same time, Xiaomi YU7 is also a letter of the deepest and most hardcore love from Xiaomi engineers to all those who love life."

Regardless of how many people do not agree that there are still poems and distant places in this era, or that Lei Jun's sentimentality fits the current state of China's auto market, from an observer's perspective, not slandering, not underestimating, not being arrogant, and not being complacent are precisely the spirit of car manufacturing needed in this era.

Editor-in-Charge: Li Sijia, Editor: He Zengrong