Dreame makes its first response to everything about car manufacturing.
Since the official announcement of entering the automotive industry, the outside world's attention and controversy over Dreame's cross - border foray into car - making have never ceased.
On April 27th, Pacific Time, Dreame officially held a four - day DREAME NEXT press conference in Silicon Valley, USA, showcasing a range of products including smart cars and smart home appliances. Among them, the most attention - grabbing was a rocket car named "Nebula NEXT 01 Concept JET Edition".
During the press conference, Ma Junye, the president of Dreame's Starry Sky Program, gave exclusive interviews to several media outlets including Jiemian News in San Francisco, USA. This was also the first time Dreame disclosed substantial progress after officially announcing its entry into the automotive industry.
In Ma Junye's words, Dreame's positioning in car - making is to build a "global high - end new energy brand".
According to the car - making plan he disclosed, its technical and business paths are relatively clear:
Technologically, it adheres to in - depth self - research on the core technology of the lower vehicle body and the three - electric system; in terms of business model, it avoids the heavy - asset route of building a fully - owned factory and chooses the "Huawei model"; in terms of product positioning, it abandons the highly competitive mass market in China and directly targets the global high - end niche market above one million yuan.
During this more than one - hour exclusive interview, Ma Junye responded comprehensively to various doubts from the outside world regarding Dreame's car - making technology route, cooperation model, fund - raising, and market pricing.
Image source: Dreame
01 Car - making in the "Huawei Model"
According to the information disclosed this time, Dreame started its car - making earlier than the outside world previously thought.
Ma Junye revealed to media such as Jiemian News that Dreame's automotive team began preparations between 2021 and 2022, at the same stage as Xiaomi's automotive project.
Public information shows that Dreame officially announced its entry into the automotive industry in August 2025, and its first model is directly targeted at the Bugatti Veyron.
According to Ma Junye, during the three - year silent period, the team mainly conducted demonstrations and R & D of underlying technologies.
As Dreame's most important new business, Yu Hao, the founder and CEO, has shown a high level of attention.
In terms of internal division of labor, according to Ma Junye, Yu Hao is deeply involved in the ID styling design and product definition direction of the whole vehicle, and communicates frequently with the automotive team in the company's internal group almost every day. Ma Junye and the engineering team are responsible for leading the specific technology R & D and project implementation.
Currently, Dreame's automotive team has exceeded 1,000 people, with R & D personnel accounting for about 70%. It is expected that by the second half of this year, the total number of the team will approach 2,000.
In the production and manufacturing process, Dreame did not take the traditional path of building its own vehicle factory. Ma Junye confirmed that Dreame is using a form similar to the "Huawei model" to make cars, jointly creating a new automotive brand with its partners.
According to his disclosure, Dreame is conducting joint R & D and contract manufacturing by finding mature domestic and foreign automobile OEMs, and devoting most of its funds and energy to the R & D end.
However, in terms of core components and underlying architecture, Dreame shows a strong desire for control and adheres to self - research on underlying technology routes such as the full - line control intelligent chassis, in - vehicle motors, solid - state power batteries, and intelligent cockpits.
Ma Junye also confirmed for the first time in this interview that Dreame is indeed independently planning and developing cockpit and intelligent driving computing chips in a light - asset model to meet the customized needs of the underlying architecture.
Image source: Dreame
High - intensity self - research means huge capital investment.
Facing the outside world's doubts about the car - making capital chain, Ma Junye did not disclose the specific figures, but he emphasized that the automotive business is the most important new business within the Dreame Group, and the group has given sufficient funds and resources. At the same time, Dreame has also introduced some social capital and industrial funds to share risks and replenish resources.
Regarding the reserve funds for car - making, Ma Junye clearly stated that Dreame "has reserved enough funds to make cars".
He also emphasized that under the car - making model currently chosen by Dreame, the partner car companies are responsible for vehicle manufacturing, and Dreame provides core technologies and platform R & D. The actual fixed - asset funds required are much lower than those of a fully - owned factory.
In response to the outside world's doubts about whether Dreame's cross - border car - making will become the next LeEco, Ma Junye said that the business models of the two companies are completely different. Dreame is conducting real underlying technology R & D and is committed to delivering physical products for the global market, not just staying at the concept stage.
02 Betting on High - net - worth Individuals Globally
Another core reason why Dreame's car - making has attracted much attention from the outside world is its extremely high product pricing.
In recent years, the domestic new energy vehicle market has been highly competitive. In such an environment, whether traditional OEMs or new car - making forces, most choose to seize market share through the sinking market or extreme cost - performance strategies to achieve economies of scale.
Dreame cut off this conventional path at the beginning of its car - making. The outside world has always had doubts: Is it too radical for a new brand to directly develop ultra - luxury models?
Ma Junye responded that Dreame's direction is very clear, "We definitely won't make cars below 200,000 yuan."
Regarding the pricing strategy, the price of Dreame's mass - produced high - end models will be set above one million yuan. And the cost and selling price of the rocket car unveiled this time will reach tens of millions of yuan.
He disclosed to media such as Jiemian News that according to the product plan, Dreame's mass - produced models will be officially launched for sale in 2027. The first batch of products to be launched into the market will be pure - electric coupes, and SUV products of the same series will be launched successively in the following months.
The rocket car Nebula NEXT 01 Concept JET Edition, which attracted a lot of attention at the Silicon Valley press conference, is a carrier for Dreame to verify its extreme engineering capabilities. Dreame defines it as a product of the "N + 1" model, that is, by pushing the core technology to the ceiling of the physical limit and then being downward - compatible.
Different from traditional power, this rocket car will be equipped with a specially - customized dual - solid rocket booster system. According to the official introduction, it can respond instantly in 150 milliseconds and burst out a maximum thrust of 100 kN, achieving 0 - 100 km/h acceleration in 0.9 seconds.
Ma Junye revealed in the interview that the extreme data is inferred from multiple rounds of iterative simulation calculations. Currently, the prototype has been completed, and the team will conduct an actual ignition test at the end of May this year.
He told Jiemian News reporters that in the future, this rocket car will not be mass - produced for the road. It will adopt a targeted mass - production model and be sold in limited quantities, with a price possibly above ten million yuan.
The coupe models to be mass - produced next year will truly undertake the task of commercialization. The price range of these mass - produced models entering the market will be locked above one million yuan, and some special versions will even exceed two million yuan.
Image source: Dreame
As a new player in car - making, directly targeting the ultra - luxury market above one million yuan is quite unusual in the highly competitive new energy vehicle market.
Ma Junye did some calculations in the interview, which is the logic behind his decision not to enter the domestic car market below 200,000 yuan. He said that in the current domestic market, many cost - effective models are in a dilemma of sacrificing profits for sales volume, and the gross profit per vehicle of some car companies has even dropped to - 31%.
According to him, the premise of Dreame's car - making logic is that "the business value must be closed - loop". Only by obtaining a reasonable gross profit per vehicle through high - value products and ensuring a positive operating cash flow can the automotive business operate healthily.
Dreame believes that its global strategy can support this high - premium pricing logic.
Dreame is trying to find 400 million high - net - worth individuals globally. Ma Junye pointed out that in the overseas market, this group of people currently has few opportunities to experience mid - to high - end new energy vehicles made in China. Most of the new energy products going overseas are still in the low - end range of about 100,000 yuan, but they have a real demand for electric vehicles with both extreme power performance and high - level intelligence.
In other words, Dreame wants to fill this market gap.
According to a forecast released by Global Market Insights in March this year, the global luxury electric vehicle market is expected to expand from $214.7 billion in 2026 to $562.4 billion in 2035, with a compound annual growth rate of 11.3%.
There are indeed potential market dividends and gaps, but there is only one year left until Dreame's promised mass - produced models are launched. Whether this concept of stacking a large number of cutting - edge technologies on the initial models can be realized on the mass - produced vehicles next year and be accepted by high - net - worth consumers globally still needs to be tested by time and the market.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Jiemian News", author: Xu Meihui, editor: Wen Shuqi. Republished by 36Kr with permission.