He was called China’s answer to Steve Jobs for taking Xiaomi from scrappy startup to an electronics giant known for its smartphones.
With the launch of a much-hyped and against-the-odds electric car, Lei Jun, Xiaomi’s co-founder and CEO, is taking on Elon Musk with a strategy that takes a page from Tesla’s playbook.
Lei, 54, took the stage in Beijing on Thursday to unveil Xiaomi’s SU7 car, a project three years in the making that has attracted a lot of attention but which, Lei has warned investors, will lose money.
During Thursday’s two-hour event – a livestream millions of Chinese tuned in to watch – Lei made a jibe at Apple for dropping its car project and declared Xiaomi’s EV superior to Tesla’s Model 3.
Fans dubbed the Xiaomi CEO “Thor” on social media, a play on his surname which means thunder in Chinese. Some commented that his outfit – a grey blazer over a black t-shirt – looked like something Musk would wear.
Already a household name in China, Lei’s marketing strategy for his EV borrows directly from Musk, said Yale Zhang, managing director at Automotive Foresight.
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Author: Faith N
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