Chairman of Great Wall Motor Wei Jianjun invited his R&D team to get acquainted with his Xiaomi SU7. Mr. Wei received it as a gift from Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun during the official launch ceremony of the SU7. GWM chairman mentioned that Xiaomi achieved a remarkable result in just three years of working in the automotive industry.
Wei Jianjun is the chairman of the well-known Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor. He has been managing the company since 1990. His family currently owns over 50% of GWM’s shares.
Wei Jianjun is taking notes from Xiaomi
On March 28, Wei Jianjun took part in the official launch of the Xiaomi SU7 electric vehicle. Before the launch ceremony, he exchanged gifts with Xiaomi’s CEO. Mr. Wei gave Lei Jun the recently launched Tank 700 Hi4-T PHEV off-roader. And Xiaomi CEO handed him the newly released Xiaomi SU7.
During the launch ceremony, Wei Jianjun sat in the first row next to the founders of Nio, XPeng, and Li Auto. The launch event was also visited by Changan’s vice-president, Deepal’s CEO, and BAIC chairman Zhan Jiangyun.
On April 1, three days after the Xiaomi SU7 launch, Wei Jianjun shared a video on Weibo (Chinese social media). In this clip, the GWM R&D team gets acquainted with the Xiaomi SU7 sedan. Wei Jianjun also added an inscription to his post, stating that “Xiaomi Auto was established just three years ago, but their design undoubtedly has lots of design features”. In the video, Wei Jianjun also mentioned that the Xiaomi SU7’s cabin is innovative.
It seems that the Great Wall Motor chairman has gathered his R&D team to get acquainted with the first Xiaomi car and take some notes. Recently, GWM was lagging behind the industry in terms of new energy vehicles. Xiaomi’s fresh vision of the industry can be useful for the future development of GWM NEVs.
More on Xiaomi SU7
Xiaomi SU7 received nearly 90,000 firm orders 24 hours after launch. It is an electric sedan with dimensions of 4997/1963/1455 mm and a wheelbase of 3000 mm. Its entry-level variant has a 73.6 kWh LFP battery and a 220 kW electric motor on board. The second option has the same e-motor with an LFP pack for 94.3 kWh. And the top-trim SU7 has 4WD for 495 kW and a 101 kWh ternary NMC battery. Depending on the battery option, its range is 700 – 830 km.
The Xiaomi SU7’s price range is 215,900 – 299,900 yuan (29,900 – 41,500 USD). It is available in 59 showrooms in 28 cities across China. However, some negative narratives started to emerge. Some drivers of the SU7 lost control and crashed. Other drivers faced quality issues like deactivated air suspension or faulty taillight unit.
Source: Weibo
“….GWM was lagging behind the industry in terms of new energy vehicles. ”
GWM is a legacy automaker in a precarious position, as it struggles to navigate in the same waters as the dynamic “start-ups”. So I think Chairman Wei would jump at a chance to be affiliated with the most advanced maker of Software Defined Vehicles (SEVs). And, at the same time, Lei Jun would probably welcome the experience of a veteran like Wei, as he prepares to address his latest hardware quality problems.