As Xiaomi Motors is about to go public, Geely sets up a gun and launches a precise sniper attack, perhaps because one person at a time

After announcing the upcoming release of the SU7 electric car, Lei Jun paid tribute to a number of new energy vehicle companies on Weibo, "We are well aware of the complexity of the automotive industry and the difficulty of pioneering. We sincerely pay tribute to pioneers such as BYD, NIO, Xpeng, Ideal, and Huawei."

Lei Jun paid tribute to everyone but missed Geely.

Later, Yang Xueliang, senior vice president of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, retweeted Lei Jun's Weibo post and wrote: "If people always want to be saluted, it's over, but if people always want to salute others, they will have no future."

Obviously, Xiaomi and Geely are not on good terms. Recently, the media has uncovered the root of the problem, and the crux of the problem is Lei Jun's 1 billion yuan "headhunting".

Speaking of Hu Zhengnan, he is a well-known figure in the automotive industry. He once served as the dean of Geely Automobile Research Institute, participated in the technological integration of Geely and Volvo, jointly developed the CMA architecture, established the China-Europe Automotive Technology Center (CEVT) in Europe, and later led the technology research and development of Lynk & Co. He is known as the "key man of Geely Automobile" by the outside world.

However, after Lei Jun visited the company, Geely ultimately failed to retain this technical expert.

According to media reports, after Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun decided to build a car, his initial idea was to cooperate with a mature car company, so he approached Geely to discuss the matter. However, the two sides did not reach an agreement, and just when people thought Lei Jun was leaving, he poached Hu Zhengnan.

In June 2021, there were reports that Xiaomi planned to poach Hu Zhengnan and offer him up to 1 billion yuan in equity plus salary. Although Hu Zhengnan denied the news in his circle of friends at the time, Geely later officially confirmed that Hu Zhengnan had resigned from Geely Automobile Research Institute.

In September 2021, there were reports that Hu Zhengnan had joined Shunwei Capital, an investment institution founded by Lei Jun, as an investment partner. Shunwei Capital is the main investor of Xiaomi Auto. It is speculated that after joining Shunwei Capital, Hu Zhengnan is likely to participate in Xiaomi's car-making project as a consultant. As for why he did not join Xiaomi Auto directly, it must be because he signed a non-compete agreement after leaving Geely.

In the matter of poaching Hu Zhengnan, Lei Jun can really be said to have mastered the art of planning. He first did a covert move during the cooperation negotiation and poached their cornerstone technical figure under Geely's nose. Then he let Hu Zhengnan join Shunwei Capital, perfectly avoiding the non-compete agreement and achieving a roundabout way to save the country.

Geely certainly won't swallow this.

In July 2022, Geely announced the acquisition of Meizu. Meizu founder Huang Zhang and Geely founder Li Shufu appeared at the signing ceremony. Geely announced that the company's "Hubei Xingji" and "Meizu Technology" officially signed a contract. Xingji Times holds a 79.09% controlling stake in Meizu Technology and obtains sole control over Meizu Technology. It is worth mentioning that Huang Zhang himself has always been resentful about Xiaomi's copying of Meizu before making mobile phones.

Geely said that the acquisition of Meizu was to expand innovation and ecological integration in the fields of consumer electronics and automobiles and to build a user ecological chain. However, anyone with a discerning eye can see that this move is also somewhat intended to challenge Xiaomi.

What’s even more interesting is that a few months after acquiring Meizu, Geely directly moved Meizu’s headquarters from Shenzhen to Lei Jun’s hometown of Hubei.

Since then, the two companies, which had originally had no intersection, have become enemies and have even become diametrically opposed in specific businesses.

On December 28, 2023, Xiaomi released the SU7, which is positioned as a mid-to-large flagship sedan. Just the day before, Geely's Zeekr also released a new model, the 007, which is also positioned as a mid-to-large flagship sedan.

SU7 and 007 not only have the number 7 in their names, but they are also similar in appearance, configuration, technology, etc. It is speculated that this is the result of Geely's deliberate arrangement in order to accurately target the market prospects of Xiaomi SU7. As for why the new car was released the day before Xiaomi, it was to effectively reduce the attention paid to Xiaomi Automobile.

New energy vehicles are a huge market, but there are enough players in the market now. The competition is already fierce among traditional car companies such as Geely, BYD, and SAIC, as well as a number of new car-making forces. If Xiaomi enters the market at this time, it will definitely be "encircled and suppressed" by the entire industry. In addition, Xiaomi has offended Geely, a big boss, and its future models are likely to be precisely sniped by Geely at the product level.

For users, the fierce competition between the two companies often means huge room for "picking up bargains", but for a brand that has just entered the market, this is really not good news. After all, whether in terms of supply chain or industry familiarity, Xiaomi Auto is a pure newcomer in the industry. Once a giant launches a targeted price war, even Xiaomi, which has hundreds of billions of cash, will inevitably be overwhelmed.

Geely has already set up its sniper rifle, waiting for Xiaomi's SU7 to show up. In fact, just like declaring war, after Xiaomi released its new model, Yang Xueliang said on Weibo: "Come on, although I haven't received any tribute, I still open my heart to welcome new players. Good luck and have fun!"

I just don’t know whether Yang Xueliang’s “have fun” was directed to Xiaomi or to Geely itself which had already aimed its gun.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.