On the evening of July 19, Lei Jun, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Xiaomi Group, delivered his fifth personal annual speech with the theme of "Courage".

In this speech, Lei Jun comprehensively narrated the journey of Xiaomi Automobile from scratch to excellence.

After numerous challenges, although Xiaomi SU7 emerged victorious in its debut, becoming a phenomenal hit, Lei Jun remained calm: Xiaomi Automobile has finally taken a seat at the table, but we are still far from true success; our Long March has just begun...

This time, Lei Jun's speech was mainly divided into four chapters: the starting point of Xiaomi Automobile; first adhere to the right path, then create surprises; love what you do; and courageously take a seat at the table.

Listening to the entire speech, one realizes how difficult it was for Xiaomi to transform from an "outsider in car manufacturing" to initially gaining industry and market recognition.

Xiaomi's entry into car manufacturing began with an accident.

On January 14, 2021 (US time), nine companies, including Xiaomi, were added to the US Department of Defense's "Entity List," prohibiting US investors from investing in or purchasing shares of these companies. From that moment on, Lei Jun began to ponder: if the company's primary business were restricted, what would be the next step.

After receiving board approval, Xiaomi announced its entry into car manufacturing, led by Lei Jun, with a full investment of $10 billion over 10 years.

Lei Jun stated: "This is the last entrepreneurial project of my life. I am willing to stake my entire reputation and achievements to fight for Xiaomi Automobile."

Within half a year, Xiaomi Automobile had assembled a team of over 1,000 people. In three years, it received 380,000 resumes, attracting talents from all corners of the world to join Xiaomi Automobile. Today, the Xiaomi Automobile team has exceeded 7,000 people, including over 1,000 technical experts.

From the outset, Xiaomi Automobile decided not to take shortcuts, refusing to acquire or outsource, choosing instead to focus on core technologies, investing tenfold, and earnestly building a good car. Simultaneously, it chose an unconventional path, starting with pure electric sedans.

Overcoming numerous difficulties, on August 16, 2023, the first prototype of Xiaomi SU7 slowly rolled off the production line.

To create a good car, Lei Jun devised a solution based on the idea that "understanding and loving what you do is the key to doing it well." Starting with driving himself as the first step, he then embarked on extensive test drives, testing over 170 cars in three years and taking over 200,000 words of notes. To further understand cars, Lei Jun even learned racing and personally participated in winter, summer, and long-distance tests.

Through repeated experiences and listening, Lei Jun continually gained a deeper understanding of what constitutes a good car and what are the real needs of users.

On March 28, Xiaomi SU7 finally went on sale, and when the sales figures of "10,000 in 4 minutes, 50,000 in 27 minutes" reached Lei Jun's ears, he finally felt at ease.

With the efforts of all parties, Xiaomi Automobile announced new delivery targets in May: a guaranteed delivery of 100,000 vehicles by the end of the year, striving for 120,000.

In this speech, Lei Jun revealed that Xiaomi SU7's annual delivery target of 100,000 vehicles is expected to be completed ahead of schedule in November.

Regarding channel construction, as of July 2024, Xiaomi Automobile stores will cover 31 cities nationwide, including 30 delivery centers, 103 sales stores, and 59 service stores. By the end of 2024, Xiaomi Automobile's sales and service network is expected to cover 59 cities nationwide, with the number of delivery centers growing to 53, sales stores to 220, and service stores to 135.

Xiaomi SU7's successful debut marks that Xiaomi Automobile has finally taken a seat at the table.

At the new product launch following the speech, Lei Jun officially unveiled the peak-performance pure electric vehicle – Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype, and announced that it will officially compete in the Nürburgring Nordschleife in October 2024, with the goal of "becoming the fastest four-door electric car at the Nürburgring within ten years," continuing to challenge Porsche.

This car is the first to be equipped with Xiaomi Automobile's self-developed V8s super motor, and a three-motor all-wheel-drive system consisting of two V8s and one V6s, achieving a combined maximum horsepower of 1548PS, enabling the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype to accelerate from 0-100km/h in just 1.97 seconds, with a top speed exceeding 350km/h.

To meet the higher power requirements of the three-motor system, the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype will be the first in the world to be equipped with CATL's second-generation "Qilin" battery, supporting a maximum discharge power of 1330kW, a peak voltage of 897V, and a power density of up to 3075W/kg. Through a thinner electrode design, it can still output a maximum power of over 800kW even at a low battery level of 20%.

The entire car uses up to 15 square meters of carbon fiber, reducing the system weight by over 500kg, resulting in a vehicle weight of only 1900kg. To maximize track performance, Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype redesignes aerodynamic structure, providing a maximum downforce of 2145kg, significantly enhancing the vehicle's handling stability.

It is reported that Xiaomi Automobile will officially compete in the Nürburgring Nordschleife in October 2024. In October, the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype will challenge the non-production lap record at the Nürburgring, while in 2025, a production model will be used to officially challenge the production lap record.

As Lei Jun said, Xiaomi Automobile has finally taken a seat at the table, but the Long March has just begun. Today's domestic automobile market is rapidly changing, and while the success of SU7 has set a good precedent, Xiaomi Automobile still needs to continue working hard to maintain its competitiveness in an increasingly competitive market.