Mu Zong science and technology recruitment

How to make products with unique recognition at limited cost is the challenge that Xiaomi will face in the future. But before that, Xiaomi needs to worry about traditional issues such as team, technology kneading and supply chain organization.

Text/"Autobot" Hua Meng

At present, it has been more than 120 days since Lei Jun announced the "spring conference" for building cars. There is not much news at the official level. The description of Xiaomi's first car, the production base, the OEM system, and even the name of "Xiaomi Automobile" came to a guess at three o'clock, which was not confirmed.

However, no matter IT circle or automobile circle, there is never an absolute secret. From the public information, we can already get a glimpse of the "road map" of Xiaomi's car.

At present, for the strategic decision of "entering the automobile industry", Lei Jun has made a final decision and there is no dispute. Before the official announcement, he began to make a "certain effort" to build a car.

The "road map" itself is still under discussion, and there may be some disputes and trial and error inside, and the outside world will always know later. However, the actual route may be narrower and more predictable than expected.

There is a high possibility of relying on the "new OEM" system.

After the official announcement, several details were clarified:

First, Lei Jun is responsible for Xiaomi's automobile business and leads the project, not Wang Chuan;

The second point is an independent subsidiary, which is equivalent to digging a fire ditch to facilitate external financing, and is also separated from Xiaomi's current ICT business;

Third, 10 annual investment 10 billion dollars, initial investment 10 billion RMB, which is quite restrained. At least it shows that from the beginning, Xiaomi must have taken the OEM route. It's hard to say after the car has been sold for two or three years. If a strong positive cash flow is established, self-built capacity can be considered.

However, a logic of Xiaomi's end is that the electric vehicle industry chain is close to maturity.

Prior to this, "Wei Xiaoli" adopted the "magic change" OEM model. Among them, Jianghuai also invested 2.3 billion yuan to build a new foundry for Weilai. There is no problem to recover the cost at present, but the investment risk was great at that time. If Haima or Lifan mode is adopted, the risk will be transferred to the entrusting party.

The typical self-built factory is Weimar. Weimar was founded less than a year ago, and the Wenzhou production base was finalized. However, the construction period lasted for two years, and the rhythm of Weimar products was surpassed by Tucki, Ideal, Zero Run and Nezha.

Of course, the rhythm problem can't rely entirely on the financial pressure brought by self-built production capacity, but large-scale fixed investment is definitely one of the reasons.

Now Geely, Foxconn and Great Wall, which hold high the banner of OEM, are cooperating with the first batch of customers. The off-line sales of these products determine whether the "new OEM" can be carried out smoothly. Just then, Xiaomi came in. This is exactly the same as when I first set foot in ICT services such as mobile phones.

Xiaomi's style of doing things has always been to show people with a gentle face. In fact, the knife is steady and ruthless.

The team structure is still taking shape.

In this 120 day, the Lei Jun team actually didn't have any big news. They only did a few things: visiting, forming a team, giving priority to research and development, and obtaining capital.

Visiting seems to be a retreat, but if it is understood as visiting customers, suppliers and potential partners in advance, the pragmatic significance will be greatly strengthened.

During this period, Lei Jun visited Chang 'an, SAIC Passenger Cars, Dongfeng, GAC, SAIC-GM-Wuling, Great Wall and other suppliers, as well as contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. and Bosch Shanghai, and had a brief conversation with officials of Wuhan Economic Development Zone at the luncheon.

It is not clear whether the focus of these visits is to observe the production system, visit executives to talk about cooperation, or look at products. At present, Xiaomi has not signed cooperation with these receptionists (even if it is only a framework). This means that in terms of capacity deployment, Xiaomi has not yet made a decision and is still in the early planning stage. The so-called millet production capacity has landed in Hefei and Wuhan, but it is still not mentioned.

It can also be seen from the speed of team building. In Wuhan, Shanghai and other places, Xiaomi has released hundreds of recruitment positions, but most of them are technical positions, which is not normal.

At present, the known senior executives of Xiaomi automobile business, including Ye Hangjun, general manager of artificial intelligence department, Li, former general manager of Xiaomi household appliances department, and former deputy chief of staff of the General Staff Department, have not disclosed their new positions. If the car-making business is carried out on a large scale, it will not only disclose these cadres.

Judging from the strength and scope of recruitment, some candidates in Xiaomi Automobile Team are internally transferred, and the proportion is unknown. However, there is no doubt that new business can't just rely on existing "own people".

Team building is usually driven by business, which breaks down tasks into multiple directions and first reaches the top management (vice president, director, etc.) of the business line. ), and then fill in the organizational structure from top to bottom.

Xiaomi just entered the game. Even if it is OEM, Xiaomi can't avoid the traditional car-making process. It definitely needs senior talents who really establish the automobile business process to establish the structure. These executives, no matter where they come from, may be interviewed by Lei Jun himself or even searched personally. Before the end of the year, after these executives are in place, they can see the real direction of Xiaomi's auto business more clearly.

R&D and Investment First

Now the situation of the automobile business team also shows that Xiaomi did not start the specific car-making business, but adopted the strategy of R&D first.

As a pragmatist, Xiaomi does not need to develop a vehicle platform. After 20 15, Xiaomi successively applied for some patents of intelligent cockpit and intelligent driving, but Xiaomi did not have the technical reserve of "three electricity" integration.

The research and development of intelligent system is Xiaomi's existing business, and its organizational structure is basically complete. Xiaomi is making a big fuss about automobile terminal intelligence and network intelligence with "intelligence" as the breakthrough point. That is to say, we should first focus on the research and development of intelligent network connection, automatic driving and intelligent cockpit, and then seek suitable carriers.

The research and development needs of autonomous driving related technologies are only a prelude. Rather than saying that Xiaomi has seized the commanding heights of "intelligence", it is better to start from the existing business and gradually get started.

In this way, the number of roads built by Xiaomi is different from that of new forces and traditional car-making enterprises.

Xiaomi Capital has taken the lead. In June, Xiaomi Changjiang Industrial Fund led the D3 round of "Mu Zong Science and Technology". The latter also became the first company to invest in the automotive field after Xiaomi announced the construction of the car. Mu Zong Science and Technology said that through this round of financing, it is expected to carry out multi-dimensional cooperation in the field of Xiaomi smart scene application.

Established 8 years ago, Mu Zong Science and Technology is a technology and product supplier of Automatic Driving System (ADS) and Assisted Driving System (ADAS), and its customers include FAW, Changan, BAIC, Geely and Ideality.

In the same month, Xiaomi joined the laser radar startup "Wosai Technology", which is developing solid-state laser radar and its control chip.

In July, Xiaomi acquired DeepMotion, an autonomous driving technology company. The company develops full-stack autopilot solutions, including sensing systems and automatic parking technology.

Ideas and challenges

According to Xiaomi's current style of play, the first car will come out at the end of 2023 at the earliest, and there are considerable variables in the market two years later.

Almost all traditional car companies are trying to catch up with new energy sources. Joint ventures, in particular, are just in the initial stage of straightening out the supply chain and releasing products, and their product strength has not been cultivated, which is far from the market leaders. Even without considering the accumulation of traditional automobile business resources, it is two or three years faster than Xiaomi.

Xiaomi's promotion of car-making business is not slow. If he wants to gain a foothold at that time, he must play asymmetrically. Tesla has proved that although its ability to build a car is not as good as that of a traditional car company, if the car is made into a mobile terminal and given a scientific definition (autonomous driving, new energy, car ecology), it can eat the car's meal and continue to nibble at the other party's existing market space.

Smart cars are just bigger and faster terminals. As an active mobile terminal and IOT equipment manufacturer, Xiaomi thinks there is no problem. The four major processes and supply chain management of traditional car-making are all handled by their own foundries. Moreover, foundries have launched vehicle platforms, and the electronic and electrical architecture, mechanical structure and battery solutions are readily available.

The most important ability of smart cars is computing power. The sensor of the car machine reaches double digits, and the data collected is 2-3 orders of magnitude more than that of the mobile phone. Therefore, it is necessary to deploy a more powerful computing platform than mobile phones.

Some manufacturers have planned 1000Tops, while the FSD single chip of Tesla Model 3 has only 72Tops. Although ADAS is generally lame, 1000Tops is difficult to play at present, but it is undoubtedly the future direction. When it comes to advanced autopilot and 5G is superimposed, the computing power required will be turned upside down. The development of cloud computing capabilities does not affect local smart deployment. The mobile phone also proves this.

It is unrealistic to expect Xiaomi to integrate the team and launch a mature vehicle in a short time. Xiaomi starts with intelligent technology and relies on "new OEM" (similar to ICT OEM). There is no great sense of urgency in financing, and there is no big problem in making products.

The product competitiveness of Xiaomi Automobile must be different from the existing competitors. The question is whether consumers will buy it. Market research shows that people don't expect much from the price of Xiaomi car. If this part of the requirements is met, the technical cost of Xiaomi will be basically locked.

How to make products with unique recognition at limited cost is the challenge that Xiaomi will face in the future. But before that, Xiaomi needs to worry about traditional issues such as team, technology kneading and supply chain organization. (Text/"Autobot" Hua Meng) Copyright statement This article is an exclusive original manuscript of Autobot, and the copyright belongs to Autobot.