E.04.07 Xiaomi Enters Electric Vehicle Market With $10 Billion Commitment

2021.04.07

【课程导读】

上周，电子产品巨头小米公司官宣造车。在发布会上，雷军表示，“这将是我人生中最后一次重大的创业项目”，“我愿意压上我人生所有积累的战绩和声誉，为小米汽车而战！”那么，面对竞争日益激烈的中国电动汽车市场，小米具有什么优势，又将给电动汽车领域带来什么？

【英文原文】

Xiaomi Enters Electric Vehicle Market With $10 Billion Commitment
小米进军电动汽车市场，未来拟投资100亿美元

By Dan Strumpf

Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi Corp. became the latest tech company drawn to China’s burgeoning electric vehicle market, pledging $10 billion over the next decade to the initiative.

• electric vehicle 电动车

中国的电动汽车市场正在蓬勃发展，而电子产品巨头小米集团成为了最新一家进军该市场的科技公司。小米豪言，未来十年，他们在该项目的投入将达到100亿美元。

Xiaomi Chief Executive Lei Jun will lead the new stand-alone subsidiary focused on electric vehicles, the company said Tuesday. It will spend an initial 10 billion yuan, equivalent to about $1.5 billion, to launch the business, expanding its investment in the coming years.

小米公司上周二（3月30日）透露，这家新的独立子公司将专注于电动汽车业务，并由集团CEO雷军亲自领导。小米计划首期投资100亿元人民币（约合15亿美元）启动该项业务，并在未来扩大投资。

Xiaomi’s entrance into electric vehicles makes it one of China’s most prominent tech companies to date to join what is an increasingly crowded market. Xiaomi’s status as a popular consumer brand with a rapidly expanding global footprint, could give it an edge over rivals, though new entrants into the car market face significant hurdles.

电动汽车市场正日益拥挤，小米成为迄今为止进入该领域最引人注目的科技公司之一。尽管作为汽车市场的后来者，小米面临着巨大的障碍，但作为广受欢迎的消费品牌，它的业务正在全球迅速扩大，这一地位也可能使其比许多竞争对手都更具有优势。

“We have accumulated a lot of wisdom and experience and it’s time for us to try the waters,” Mr. Lei said.

雷军表示：“我们积累了很多智慧和经验，是时候试水了。”

China is the world’s largest electric vehicle market, where sales have been booming since industry champion Tesla Inc. began building its high-end cars in Shanghai in late 2019. Domestic rivals include NIO Inc.—whose soaring stock has made it one of the world’s most valuable auto makers—as well as Li Auto Inc. and Xpeng Inc.

中国是世界上最大的电动汽车市场，自行业翘楚特斯拉2019年底开始在上海制造高端轿车以来，电动汽车在中国的销售持续火热。目前国内市场的竞争者包括蔚来汽车、理想汽车和小鹏汽车，其中蔚来汽车飙升的股价已使其成为全球市值最高的汽车制造商之一。

【外刊原文】

Xiaomi Enters Electric Vehicle Market With $10 Billion Commitment
By Dan Strumpf
@The Wall Street Journal

HONG KONG—Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi Corp. became the latest tech company drawn to China’s burgeoning electric vehicle market, pledging $10 billion over the next decade to the initiative.

Xiaomi Chief Executive Lei Jun will lead the new stand-alone subsidiary focused on electric vehicles, the company said Tuesday. It will spend an initial 10 billion yuan, equivalent to about $1.5 billion, to launch the business, expanding its investment in the coming years.

Xiaomi’s entrance into electric vehicles makes it one of China’s most prominent tech companies to date to join what is an increasingly crowded market. Xiaomi’s status as a popular consumer brand with a rapidly expanding global footprint, could give it an edge over rivals, though new entrants into the car market face significant hurdles.

Mr. Lei appeared late Tuesday before a cheering theater of spectators in Beijing following the announcement. He told the audience that he had deliberated for months with the company’s board about whether Xiaomi should enter the electric vehicle market. He said he ultimately decided that the company’s ample cash cushion gave him the confidence to move forward.

“We have accumulated a lot of wisdom and experience and it’s time for us to try the waters,” Mr. Lei said.

Mr. Lei offered scant details on how or when a Xiaomi vehicle would come to market, and didn’t disclose whether it had enlisted an outside manufacturer for the effort. Last week, Chinese car maker Great Wall Motor denied a report that it was working with Xiaomi on electric vehicles.

China is the world’s largest electric vehicle market, where sales have been booming since industry champion Tesla Inc. began building its high-end cars in Shanghai in late 2019. Domestic rivals include NIO Inc. —whose soaring stock has made it one of the world’s most valuable auto makers—as well as Li Auto Inc. and Xpeng Inc.

In January, search-engine giant Baidu Inc. disclosed that it was entering the electric vehicle market with partner Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. Apple Inc. has been seeking partners to build electric vehicles since late last year, though talks to do so with South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group broke down in February.

Xiaomi is betting that its entry into electric vehicles will build on its resurgent success in smartphones. In the fourth quarter, the company became the world’s third-largest smartphone maker behind Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. , occupying that spot for the first time ever. Booming sales in China, India and Western Europe have fueled its rise, as have troubles at Chinese rival Huawei Technologies Co.

The details of Xiaomi’s electric-vehicle effort came toward the close of a roughly two-hour product launch hosted by Mr. Lei in Beijing on Tuesday. In addition to smartphones, Xiaomi sells an array of consumer devices, and Mr. Lei spent most of the event revealing a grab bag of new gadgets, including an internet-connected air conditioning unit, a home humidifier and a new laptop.

Only at the very end did Mr. Lei discuss Xiaomi’s electric-vehicle plans. As an image of Mr. Lei with his arm around Tesla chief Elon Musk flashed behind him, the Chinese CEO said he had been a Tesla owner since 2013, and long had an interest in the technology.

“I hope that one day there will be a Xiaomi car on each and every street,” he said.

Reprinted by permission of The Wall Street Journal, Copyright 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Original Date of Publication: Mar. 30, 2021