Xiaomi's phones are highly competitive for their strong performance at low prices, and now its fans want the company to bring that tradition to the car segment as well. The company seems inclined to heed this user suggestion.
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun said Tuesday that the results of a poll he launched on Weibo showed that fans want the company to make mid- to high-end cars, so the first Xiaomi car will be in the price range of RMB 100,000 yuan ($15,271) to 300,000 yuan ($458,200).
The first Xiaomi car will be a sedan or an SUV, and the exact model will be discussed again, he said.
Lei held a personal live broadcast on April 6 at 20:00 to announce the Xiaomi car, and launched a survey poll on Weibo before the broadcast.
His Weibo followers voted on whether the Xiaomi car business should use the Xiaomi brand, and the vast majority of participants chose to use the brand.
The poll also included what model users expected Xiaomi's first car should be, with the most people choosing a sedan, followed by an SUV.
In terms of price range, 38 percent of users want a Xiaomi car to cost less than RMB 100,000, 27 percent want the price range to be between RMB 100,000 and RMB 150,000, and only 7 percent want it to cost more than RMB 300,000 ($458,200).
Xiaomi announced its entry into the smart electric car market on March 30, with an expected investment of $10 billion over 10 years, with the first installment of RMB 10 billion, and Lei will also serve as CEO of the smart electric car business.
Lei Weibo fans are expecting the same price as analysts.
Analysts at Pingan Securities said on March 31 that Xiaomi's cars will primarily target the sub-RMB200,000 ($30,525) price band range.
The analyst said Xiaomi has strong supply chain management and cost control capabilities and will launch a very cost-effective model.
In addition, Xiaomi has a certain brand influence and user base, strong user operation and management capabilities, and an integrated online and offline sales model.
Analysts expect Xiaomi cars to target price range below $30,525
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