Lei Jun, so wronged

"I support Xiaomi. You can scold me now."

The moment Xiaobao hit the send button, he knew a storm was coming. However, being chased and scolded, having his family insulted, and being cursed with "This will be your last car" still left him in awe.

"Now, being a 'Xiaomi car owner' has almost become a negative online label," Xiaobao said. Once revealed, the comment section is inevitably filled with sarcastic and abstract remarks.

The collapse of the brand's reputation means endless troubles for each car owner.

As the public's "positive halo" for Xiaomi's car - making fades, it is replaced by doubts about the product's reliability. When Lei Jun's "image trademark" no longer works, criticism hits the hot - search again and again... The once - held trust and love for Xiaomi begin to waver and disperse.

Data shows that recently, there has been a large - scale order cancellation for the Xiaomi YU7, and the postponement rate for some models is as high as 30%. Coincidentally, Xiaomi's stock price has also dropped by nearly 30% compared to its highest point this year.

This is Xiaomi's darkest moment and another low point in Lei Jun's life.

However, there is a group of car owners like Xiaobao who feel wronged for Lei Jun and voluntarily come out to "share the firepower". They share their driving experiences and show off the ingenious designs, hoping that through their real feelings, more people can hear objective and diverse voices in this public opinion storm.

"We are not only speaking for Lei Jun but also speaking fairly for our own choices."

1

I'd rather lose 4,000 yuan and cancel the Xiaomi car order

"Losing a 4,000 - yuan deposit. Isn't this like giving it away for free?" When Lin Lei said he wanted to transfer his Xiaomi YU7 order at a 20% discount, his friends felt sorry for him.

Three months ago, Lin Lei also couldn't bear to part with it. He still remembered the excitement of successfully locking the order on the night of the official launch, holding his breath and waiting for the countdown. After that, he watched videos every day and got more and more excited, just looking forward to the day when he would receive the call to pick up the car.

However, no matter how hot the passion is, it will be extinguished by repeated disappointments.

At first, after the real - life photos came out, Lin Lei wanted to change the configuration but was told that "the locked - order deposit is non - refundable". Later, when the controversies such as the car's braking dive and abnormal noise resonance were exposed, although he comforted himself that "it might be an individual case", he still had doubts in his heart.

Watching others pick up their cars one after another while he was still in the queue, and the delivery specialist's indifferent attitude when replying to messages gradually wore down Lin Lei's patience.

The car accident in Chengdu became the last straw that broke his back.

"Although the car owner was suspected of drunk driving, we still hope that Xiaomi can give more explanations, such as what level of collision occurred and why the car door couldn't open," Lin Lei said helplessly. However, what everyone first received was not a professional technical report but a statement of "resisting black public relations".

Coincidentally, the replacement subsidy in his area was about to be suspended, and other car companies were also extending olive branches. Disappointed, he finally chose to "abandon Xiaomi and switch to another brand" to enjoy the car earlier.

Compared with Lin Lei, Liu Wen, a "Xiaomi ecosystem" user and an SU7 owner, canceled his order earlier. When he saw the real - life photos of the car, he was shocked: in the rendering, the halo wheels were three - dimensional and cool, but on the real car, the hollow design was replaced by black plates, which were full of plastic feeling and covered the calipers, looking completely different.

He endured it for the sake of the car's overall appearance, but the more he looked, the more dissatisfied he became. The anti - glare rear - view mirror, a configuration that is neither advanced nor expensive, is only available for the MAX version. A nearly 300,000 - yuan electric car still has a manual steering wheel...

"The higher the expectation, the greater the disappointment," Liu Wen said bluntly. After the news of the YU7 came out, he followed every hot topic, from the road tests in Mohe, Turpan, and the Tibetan Plateau to the first - ever sky - screen, almost acting as an "online supervisor" throughout the process.

However, precisely because of his high level of participation and expectation, he also saw all the little tricks clearly.

He could understand that the car price kept people guessing for two or three months, but he was annoyed by the way the color options were kept secret. What annoyed him the most was that when the colors were finally revealed, "they just chose the most controversial green".

Liu Wen could turn a blind eye to the hype tactics, but when he saw some standard features of domestic cars being sold as "premium", he no longer felt the brand's sincerity.

Liu Wen is not the only one who feels "cheated". An intense public opinion storm has swept towards Xiaomi as the controversies continue to accumulate and ferment.

Claiming a 650 - kilometer range as "only needing one charge for a 1,300 - kilometer journey"; the "Xiaomi super - strong steel" being just a "project name" and the "King of Backlight" referring to a "product design goal"... These carefully designed word games and "fine - print marketing" have been fiercely criticized.

Xiaomi, once popular for its cost - effectiveness, has overnight become the target of a siege, and the "Mi fans" community is also collapsing at an accelerated pace.

Data shows that after the SU7 car - cancellation incident broke out, the activity level of Mi fans in the Xiaomi community dropped by 67%, and many users changed their signature to "Leaving the fan club for safety". The order - cancellation rate for each model has also risen, and for the SU7, it is almost possible to "pick up the car three months in advance".

Of course, more people are complaining, saying, "Why wasn't I postponed?"

2

Only those who have bought the product have the right to comment on its quality

Not long after picking up his Xiaomi YU7, Xiaobao had to travel across provinces on a business trip. He hesitated whether to drive his new car.

After all, pure - electric cars are most afraid of long - distance trips. Every time he drove out before, the battery life would drop drastically before reaching 300 kilometers. He not only had to constantly keep an eye on the location of the next charging station but also endured the frustrating waiting time.

However, when he drove the YU7, that feeling of self - torture disappeared. He rarely needed to recharge on the way, and a 20 - minute charge could allow the car to run for three or four hundred kilometers. He hardly had any "range anxiety". On the way back, he also did a simple test. With the normal air - conditioning temperature and in the comfort mode, driving at a speed of 100 km/h, the range exceeded 600 kilometers.

"If traveling light, it's possible to start with a full charge and only need one charge for a 1,300 - kilometer journey," Xiaobao sighed. Although Xiaomi likes to use "gimmick marketing", the product really lives up to its promotion.

Of course, there were also some unpleasant experiences on the road. "When the car in front of me suddenly braked on the highway, I almost had to stand up and step on the brake hard to stabilize the car," Xiaobao said bluntly.

However, for a car that costs 300,000 yuan and has an appearance, range, power, and driving experience far beyond other cars in the same price range, what more could one ask for? Xiaobao comforted himself, "I'll just drive more carefully in the future."

This kind of attitude is often joked about as having strong "adaptive" ability. If Zhang Xi hadn't bought the car, he might have thought the same way.

In the past, his impression of Xiaomi could be summed up in two words: cheap. He wouldn't even glance at the Xiaomi store when passing by, let alone buy its products. What made him stop was the news that the SU7 Ultra had become the "fastest mass - produced electric car on the Nürburgring": "It's like an average student in the class suddenly got into Tsinghua University."

Out of curiosity, he followed Lei Jun's speech and learned about the car and mobile phone product lines, gradually changing his view. After becoming a YU7 owner, the intelligent driving experience, which was completely different from that of a gasoline - powered car, amazed him, and the designs such as the zero - gravity seat and one - key projection also won high praise from his family.

"Every time we go on a self - driving trip, everyone in the car falls asleep comfortably," Zhang Xi truly understood the saying "Only those who have really bought the car know whether it's good or not." The current public opinion siege against Xiaomi is mostly due to "lack of understanding".

As for the car accident that is at the center of the storm, "It should be taken seriously, but there's no need to over - exaggerate it," he believes. There is no such thing as a car with zero accidents in the world, and sometimes safe driving is more important than the car's safety design.

He even thinks that "Xiaomi is more afraid of accidents than the car owners themselves."

On the day he picked up the car, he couldn't wait to experience the "launch control", but he found that the maximum speed for new drivers was limited to 130 km/h. The lane - centering assist function could only be unlocked after driving 500 kilometers, and the end - to - end driving permission would only be given after driving 1,000 kilometers.

In Zhang Xi's eyes, this design is obviously to "prevent the occurrence of incidents like the 'green - belt warrior'". However, there are always people who pursue speed and excitement, especially for a brand with a "younger" customer base.

"Xiaomi has opened free advanced driving training courses in many cities," Zhang Xi is one of the beneficiaries. However, as the saying goes, "Good news never goes beyond the gate," and the public often fails to notice this.

An Yi, who is in his forties, has supported Xiaomi for many years, mainly because of the belief that "a gentleman judges a person by his deeds rather than his intentions".

"Many mobile phones priced under 2,000 yuan in small towns are shoddy channel phones, but Xiaomi won't deceive poor people who don't understand the parameters like this," An Yi said. He himself was deceived before. A few years ago, he bought a no - name TV because of its low price, but it went black after only half a year of use, and he couldn't find after - sales service. After replacing it with a Xiaomi TV, it has been working fine for four years.

In An Yi's eyes, Xiaomi's product quality is above average. 'It may not be as good as some geeky brands, but it's still worth buying.'

This is Xiaomi's real position in the market, and the current storm is its return to its original position.

3

Xiaomi returns from the 'heavens' to the'real world'

Recently, Kangkang, an YU7 owner, has been having a very unpleasant time with his family.

"Don't drive this car when you come to pick us up next time." If they weren't his parents, hearing this "ultimatum", he might have been so angry that he would have kicked them out of the car.

His beloved car, which he was even reluctant to step on the accelerator hard, was called a "showy but useless thing" by his parents. Especially recently, a collection of various car accident news filled the family group, and they repeatedly told him to "change the car quickly". He tried to explain several times, but under the intense public opinion, he couldn't break the stereotypes of the older generation.

The dilemma Kangkang is facing is just one of the "dominoes" triggered by the collapse of Xiaomi and Lei Jun's reputation.

Since the beginning of this year, Kangkang has witnessed the increasing popularity of "Lei Jun's literature", which has even become a traffic - generating code. Whenever he tried to say something good, he was immediately labeled as a "fanatic of the Xiaomi cult", and there were even vicious personal attacks.

This made him truly experience the power of the Internet to "create a god" and then "destroy a god".

When the trend of "tens of thousands of people asking Mr. Lei to make sanitary napkins" emerged and the Xiaomi comment section became a "cyber wishing well", he had a bad feeling: "Xiaomi is a for - profit enterprise, and Mr. Lei is a successful businessman. It's naive to regard them as 'paragons of conscience'."

However, as the public's anti - capital sentiment was at its peak and Lei Jun's inspiring life stories were widely spread, Kangkang could only watch them being put on a pedestal.

As he worried, problems have followed one after another.

From the Anhui highway accident, to the YU7's "tribute" to luxury cars again, to the collective controversies of multiple models... Lei Jun's responses have gradually exposed his real, business - oriented, and sometimes shrewd "imperfect" image.

"It's hard for people to accept that an idealistic craftsman in their hearts has suddenly become a practical and sometimes shrewd businessman," Kangkang sighed. But in his eyes, this is just Lei Jun's personal image "returning from the heavens to the real world".

In the view of Zhang Wu, an observer, even if Lei Jun hadn't been "deified", Xiaomi would still have faced difficulties.

The Xiaomi SU7