Xiaomi has received 240,000 orders of his new Electric SUV YU7 In just 18 hours. The waiting time has shot until 14 months for the base model. Lei Jun, founder and CEO of the company, has made an unusual decision: recommend that buyers acquire rival brands if they are in a hurry, according to Bloomberg.
The situation is as absurd as usual when the desire is high and the immediate offer is low: It costs more to buy a second -hand yu7 today than a new one when there is availabilitysomething we have seen in the technological world. For example, with the shortage of the PlayStation 5 in its launch.
Why is it important. This recommendation breaks all traditional marketing schemes. A CEO publicly suggesting that customers buy competition products – including the Tesla Model andagainst which it competes directly – represents a radical turn in Chinese business communication, where brand loyalty is sacred.
“If you need to buy a car soon, other electrical models produced in China are quite good,” said Lei in Weibo. Has specifically mentioned three models as viable alternatives:
The context. Xiaomi has recently completed the second phase of Your factory in Beijingbut the productive capacity remains limited. It is taking two months to reach 10,000 units per month with a new production line, and five months to reach 20,000. Right now “only” delivers 1,590 weekly units of YU7.
The base price of 253,500 yuan (about 30,300 euros) and its benefits —835 kilometers of autonomy, 80% load in 13 minutes – have created a demand impossible to meet in the short term.
Between the lines. Lei Jun’s play hides a strategy. By openly recognizing productive limitations and recommending alternatives, builds an unusual transparency and honesty image in the automobile sector.
This apparent vulnerability paradoxically reinforces the attractiveness of the brand: if the CEO is willing to lose sales rather than lying on the deadlines, the product must deserve the penalty.
- In Chinese business culture, where Mianzi (Reputation and accumulated social prestige) It is everything, admitting limitations in public is an act of courage. Maybe calculated.
- Lei bets that consumers will assess this honesty more than the usual empty promises of the sector.
What is happening. The phenomenon transcends Xiaomi. Tesla went through You wait up to three years for Model 3 In 2016. Toyota registered delays of Four years for Land Cruiser in Japan For 2022. The difference lies in the answer: no CEO of these brands ever suggested buying a rival vehicle.
- On the Chinese platform 12365auto.com, 95 complaints have been registered about Yu7 in July, mainly for waiting times.
- The 240,000 Yu7 reserves approach the 265,400 units that Tesla has sold in China throughout the first semester.
The alarm signal. Xiaomi’s success in cars –Where Apple had to fold candles– Shows that the war for the electric car has definitely moved to China. Chinese technological brands not only compete in price: they offer real innovations in autonomy, load time and user experience that traditional brands take years to implement.
Lei Jun’s recommendation is the confirmation that Xiaomi can afford the luxury of sincerity because his product speaks for himself. And besides, it does so in a market saturated with unfulfilled promises.
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