Just over a decade after founding Xiaomi as a rival to Apple, Lei Jun has finally overtaken his Silicon Valley rival.
While Apple this year quietly abandoned a decade-long, multibillion-dollar project to build an electric vehicle, the Chinese group now has EVs rolling off Beijing production lines every couple of minutes.
Xiaomi CEO and chairman Lei’s marketing flair and passion for turning ideas into products has led to comparisons with Steve Jobs and earned him the nickname “Lei Jobs” in China, writes the Financial Times.
Speaking at an event in Beijing last week to launch his first electric vehicle, the Speed Ultra 7 sports sedan, Lei Jobs spoke of his success in producing cars just three years after announcing his goal.
Shares in Xiaomi jumped 12 per cent on Tuesday following strong demand for the SU7 after the launch event. The company received more than 100,000 pre-orders.
Since Lei, 54, founded Xiaomi with seven colleagues in 2010, he has built the company into the world’s third-largest phone maker.
“When I was trying to build a car for the past three years, I was shaking with fear every day. There was a huge weight on my mind,” Lei said last week.
A person with knowledge of the company told the FT that Lei devoted 70 to 80 per cent of his time to Xiaomi’s car project last year, starting in the office at 7am and working until 10 or 11pm. “Lei has ambitions to make Xiaomi one of China’s top three electric car makers,” the person said.
According to the FT, this ambition will also make Xiaomi one of the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturers.
Its Beijing factory can produce 150,000 cars a year and has expansion plans to double capacity, according to state media. Xiaomi’s global footprint, with smartphone distributors and stores around the world, will accelerate overseas car sales, executives say.
Still, Xiaomi is entering a highly competitive Chinese market that is in the midst of a price war.
Li Yanwei, a member of the expert committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, told the FT that Xiaomi faces challenges from more traditional carmakers such as Tesla, BMW, BYD and Geely’s Zeekr, which have slashed prices.
