Led by Lei Jun, Xiaomi Auto establishes an Architecture Department to explore the ultimate future of electric vehicles | Exclusive from 36Kr

36Kr has learned from multiple sources that Xiaomi Auto recently announced an organizational structure adjustment.

In this round of adjustment, a brand - new first - level department, the Architecture Department, has been established. It is responsible for defining the thinking on the next - generation technological architecture of intelligent electric vehicles. The new department reports directly to Lei Jun, and its members include some R & D department heads and core backbones.

People familiar with the matter told 36Kr that Cui Qiang, the former head of vehicle R & D, has joined the Architecture Department, and Wang Zhensuo, the former head of electric power, has taken over Cui Qiang's position to be responsible for vehicle R & D.

The work results of the new department will influence the technological tone and direction of Xiaomi's next - generation products. This is not only a key variable for Xiaomi to cope with future competition but also will affect its long - term market position.

For automobile manufacturers, thinking about cutting - edge technologies has always been an indispensable proposition. However, in the common practice of the industry, this function is mostly undertaken by second - level departments or project teams, which usually report to the CTO or R & D director.

Xiaomi has promoted this function to a first - level department, led personally by Lei Jun. This shows Xiaomi's investment in forward - looking work and its emphasis on the company's technological positioning.

Defining Technologies 5 Years in Advance, Architectural Thinking Is the Key to Future Competition

Generally speaking, an automobile platform will launch at least three models and last for 3 - 5 years. A generation of technological platform will determine the sales volume of an automaker for a considerable period. For enterprises with a worrying survival situation, it can even directly determine their fate.

Therefore, how to determine the core competitiveness of a new platform is a key proposition related to the survival of automakers. Since product development, verification, and mass production are all long - cycle tasks, technological definition usually takes place 5 - 8 years in advance.

"For example, in 2019, when the fast - charging technology of electric vehicles was generally at 100kW, automakers had to start thinking about whether to promote 800kW ultra - fast charging or solid - state batteries with higher energy density in 2025," an industry insider told 36Kr.

The pre - research department needs to brainstorm technological goals that do not exist at present and even seem impossible to achieve, then conduct technological deductions and pre - set solutions. Finally, it also needs to communicate with the supply chain about the implementation cycle and cost. It is a triple test of strategic vision, technological pre - research, and supply chain cooperation.

Currently, intelligent electric vehicles are iterating rapidly, showing overall technological prosperity, but in fact, there are deep - seated uncertainties.

In terms of electrification technology, companies such as Xiaomi and BYD are competing in high - performance motor technology and continue to make upward breakthroughs. The balance between cost and revenue is the key. In terms of battery technology, routes such as ultra - fast charging and solid - state batteries are advancing in parallel. Ultra - fast charging improves the user experience but affects battery life, and the large - scale implementation time of all - solid - state batteries is unknown.

In mechanical fields such as the chassis, the development is moving towards steer - by - wire, brake - by - wire, and active suspension.

The NIO ET9, which started delivery in 2025, is equipped with steer - by - wire and active suspension technologies. The starting price of the new car is 768,000 yuan, and the cost of new technologies is still high.

Steer - by - wire does effectively shorten the turning radius, but it has not created a significant generational gap compared with traditional rear - wheel steering technology, and the user experience still needs to be optimized.

For suspension systems, configuration is just the entry - level. The user experience mainly depends on the company's tuning skills. Well - tuned air suspension may have a better user experience than active suspension.

As the current focus of competition among automakers, the installation rate of AI large models and L2 - level advanced driver assistance systems is increasing rapidly. The industry is currently moving towards L3 - level autonomous driving, but the commercialization path and users' willingness to pay are still unclear.

By promoting the thinking on technological architecture to a first - level department, Xiaomi hopes to break through in the prosperous but vague technological competition, clarify the direction of technological investment, and find new growth points for the company's future.

The Industry Is Highly Competitive, Xiaomi and Li Auto Are Seeking Breakthrough Paths

Xiaomi Auto was founded in 2021 and launched its first product in 2024, when the industry price war was the most intense. Its entrepreneurial environment is not optimistic. Therefore, Lei Jun has repeatedly emphasized the company's technological positioning.

Since its establishment, Xiaomi has chosen to independently develop the core motors of high - performance vehicles and planned three generations of products. This not only helps the SU7 achieve a 0 - 100km/h acceleration in 2.78 seconds but also directly enables the SU7 Ultra to break the lap - time record set by the Porsche Taycan on the Nürburgring track.

These forward - looking investments and achievements have helped Xiaomi establish a special industry image and simultaneously boosted the sales performance of Xiaomi Auto.

Currently, the cumulative sales of the Xiaomi SU7 have exceeded 258,000 units. The YU7 has delivered over 40,000 units in three months since its launch, and the pre - order volume of the SU7 Ultra, with a starting price of 529,900 yuan, has exceeded 23,000 units. With the growth of sales, Xiaomi's auto business is also expected to achieve single - quarter profitability this year.

The tangible market advantages brought by technological leadership have further strengthened Xiaomi's determination and patience in investing in cutting - edge technologies.

In this round of adjustment, Xiaomi hopes to strengthen its strategic prediction ability of technological trends and enhance the future competitiveness of Xiaomi Auto by leveraging the industry insights and internal experience of senior backbones.

Currently, the competition rhythm in the automotive industry is accelerating, and automakers generally face the pressure of launching low - cost, high - competitiveness products in a shorter cycle.

Compared with investing five years or even longer in a complete generational technological update, many enterprises prefer to adopt relatively quick and visible strategies such as adding screens and upgrading seats in the configuration, and seek short - term market effects by collaborating with the supply chain to compress costs. This directly leads to a trend of product homogenization in the market.

However, this competition model that focuses on configuration stacking and cost control is difficult to sustain. Once a specific configuration becomes popular in a niche market, the core differences between products will weaken. At that time, consumers' decision - making basis may once again tend to price priority, and enterprises will face more severe growth pressure and profit challenges.

In such an industry landscape, Li Auto has made changes.

In 2024, Li Xiang announced that the company would transform into an artificial intelligence enterprise and subsequently launched core technologies such as MindGPT and the VLA driver large model, hoping to make breakthroughs in the AI field and gain more competitive advantages.

Now, with Lei Jun leading the pre - research work, while Xiaomi is striving to build its own competitiveness, it also provides another response paradigm for the industry in the face of rapid technological iteration.

Of course, this round of adjustment has just begun, and the final results are still unknown. This not only depends on Xiaomi's understanding and investment but also on whether it can quickly transform the exploration of cutting - edge technologies into effective product strength.