Under the strong emotions of the people, the enthusiasm and efficiency of the Wuhan government are not low. On the second day after the news was announced, the Management Committee of Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone replied: "We attach great importance to Xiaomi's official announcement of building a car. We have set up a special work class at the first time and will actively and enthusiastically dock Xiaomi."
Wuhan people's enthusiasm is not wishful thinking.
Lei Jun's hometown Xiantao City is very close to Wuhan, and his alma mater is Wuhan University. It was in an electronic street in Wuhan that Lei Jun began his career as a programmer. This is Lei Jun's youth and the starting point for him to go to the whole country.
Now, Wuhan Optics Valley has the second headquarters of Xiaomi. In recent years, Hubei Xiaomi Changjiang Industrial Investment Fund, which has been vigorously deployed in the domestic chip investment field, is also closely related to Hubei state-owned assets.
Under a series of emotional and commercial ties, it seems not impossible for Wuhan and Xiaomi to marry and build a car.
At present, the pattern of new energy vehicles is still uncertain, but the basic pattern of new energy vehicle cities has a clear trend.
Weilai has been deeply bound with Hefei and Anhui and has become a business card of the local government; Tucki received a lot of support in Guangzhou, and the self-built factory landed next to Zhaoqing; Shanghai has a "big catfish" Tesla; Even Changsha, a central town with Wuhan, has cooperated with Baidu's self-driving taxis. But when it comes to new energy in Wuhan, what can you think of?
Does Wuhan lack interest in new energy sources? On the contrary.
In 2009, Wuhan took the lead in becoming the first city in China to be approved to promote and apply new energy vehicles on a large scale. Then, Wuhan plans to reach 600,000 new energy vehicles by 2020, and strive to become a new energy vehicle center in Central China. 20 12, Shanghai GM settled in Jinkou New Town, Jiangxia District, Wuhan, and established its production base. Two years later, BYD announced that its Wuhan base had settled in Kong Lin Industrial Park in Huangpi, Wuhan, and invested 3 billion yuan to build a new energy vehicle base. It seems that everything is unstoppable like the endless flowing water of the Yangtze River.
Wuhan Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. No.3 Factory
Wuhan, an important industrial city, has not aroused enough splash in the field of new energy vehicles. When other cities are striving to be "the capital of new energy vehicles", Wuhan seems to be a rusty old car, stumbling forward.
Zhang Xiang, an auto industry analyst, told ZAKER Technology that in the wave of new energy in the past few years, Dongfeng Motor, the most important auto company in Hubei Province, was under-invested, which led to its gradual lag behind the industry, and its stagnation led to the backwardness of Wuhan and even Hubei.
"I got up early, but I caught a late gathering", which is not decent for Wuhan people who have been rushing to eat breakfast on the road.
In addition to polishing the original body, the best way to remove the "rust" on the body is to replace it with a new one.
But for Wuhan, there is not much room for choice. The "Big Three" of new energy vehicles were all taken, and Jia Boss, who didn't even sell a car, was also robbed by Zhuhai. Although Lei Jun hasn't thought about the name of Xiaomi Automobile, Zhang Xiang believes that Xiaomi has established its own advantages in the fields of brand, intelligent software and hardware. If it lands, it will undoubtedly boost Wuhan's industry.
Lei Jun really has feelings for Wuhan.
1In June, 1987, an admission notice from Wuhan took him from an unknown town to a metropolis with a broad vision. In the library of Wuhan University, he met the life-changing fire in Silicon Valley. Repairing computers in Electronic Street has accumulated his initial business experience. ...
On the opening day of Xiaomi's Wuhan headquarters, Lei Jun stood in the newly-built office building, unable to hide his excitement: "It is precisely because this is the starting point of my life and career that I have left too many youthful memories here, so I have always wanted to do something for Wuhan and Donghu High-tech Zone." He hopes that Wuhan will build Xiaomi's super-large R&D headquarters and a technical highland in the era of artificial intelligence in the next decade.
Of course, this is from the perspective of Lei Jun's personal feelings. However, the 100 billion-level investment that determines the future direction of Xiaomi will obviously not be so simple.
The 5th Alumni Forum of Wuhan University held Lei Jun's speech at his alma mater.
To some extent, Xiaomi needs Wuhan, not as strongly as Wuhan needs Xiaomi. However, Zhang Xiang believes that Wuhan is still attractive enough for Xiaomi.
First of all, Wuhan, Huanggang, Xiangfan and other surrounding cities have extremely complete vehicle manufacturing capabilities, and many auto parts manufacturers have emerged. For Xiaomi, who has no self-built car factory, light manufacturing and production are already very attractive.
At the same time, as mentioned above, frustrated Wuhan is vigorously supporting new energy enterprises. If you have an excellent goal, Wuhan will never let it go easily. In addition, Xiaomi has always had a good relationship with the Hubei government, and it is not far-fetched to belong to Wuhan.
In addition, Zhang Xiang believes that a more critical factor is that Xiaomi and Wuhan are facing a similar situation-they don't have much choice. If Xiaomi follows the existing new energy car companies and enters a city with a strong voice, it is likely that Xiaomi will not be the most favored child according to the current progress of making cars. After all, they want to raise a big fat man who can eat very much.
In the hundred-year development history of automobile industry, cities and automobile enterprises will brand each other and leave their own labels on themselves. No one will compete for "Detroit in the East", but the chaos of "the capital of new energy vehicles" has just begun.
For Xiaomi, there are not many cities like Wuhan with good resources, strong policies and willingness to give priority to Xiaomi. Similarly, for Wuhan, it is rare for a technology company like Xiaomi to be determined and expect to invest huge sums of money.
When 52-year-old Lei Jun stood at the crossroads of Xiaomi, sobbing to put all his reputation on the fight for Xiaomi's car, he should have a solid backing to support Xiaomi's car in addition to his old-fashioned feelings.
When Wuhan, which has been built for 3,500 years, wants to get rid of the shackles of the past and forge ahead, there should be future-oriented industrial opportunities besides Regan Noodles and the rolling Yangtze River.
Coincidentally, now, they have become one of the few choices for each other.
References:
Give subsidies, compete for car companies and grab resources: Who can become the "capital of new energy vehicles"? 》
Lei Jun and Wuhan's Past
Produced by ZAKER technology company
Text/Liu Fan
Editor/Huang Jiamin