Xiaomi CEO posts photo of himself sleeping on factory floor like Elon Musk

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun celebrated the milestone of producing 100,000 SU7 electric cars by taking a photo of himself sleeping on the factory floor, similar to Elon Musk when producing Tesla Model 3.

"Good morning. Woke up to the news that Xiaomi SU7 reached 100,000 units," Lei Jun wrote on X with a photo of himself lying with his eyes closed on a white mattress placed on the factory floor.

“From launch, it took us just 230 days to reach this milestone. For a new company entering the electric vehicle industry, this is a speed we are really proud of,” he added.

Lei Jun lies on the floor in a photo he posted on X this week. Photo: X/Lei Jun

Mr. Lei's image reminded many people of Elon Musk 's confession in 2018. In the CBS This Morning program revolving around the topic of stress when running Tesla at that time, the American billionaire said he was forced to sleep on the factory floor because the production of the top-selling car Tesla Model 3 left him "no time to go home and shower".

In November 2022, Musk also said he would stay at Tesla's Fremont and Nevada factories for three years in a row. The Tesla CEO believes that the head of a company should go where the biggest problems are. "I want to be worse than anyone else in the company. Whenever they're feeling pain, I want to be worse than them," he said.

Musk's Tesla is considered a symbol of the global electric vehicle industry. The company has had the highest sales in the world for many consecutive years and has no rivals in many markets. However, in recent years, Chinese electric vehicles have achieved rapid growth. In addition to names like BYD, GAC Aion, Changan, "unique players" like Xiaomi have also threatened Tesla's position.

SU7, or Speed ​​Ultra 7, is Xiaomi 's first electric vehicle . The Chinese tech giant, famous for its smartphones, produces four versions of the vehicle: SU7, SU7 Pro, SU7 Max and SU7 Ultra. Of which, SU7 Ultra is the last model to be launched with engine power equal to many supercars from famous luxury brands.

However, developing electric vehicles has also caused Xiaomi financial difficulties when the company's EV division announced a loss of 252 million USD in its second quarter financial report of 2024. It is estimated that each SU7 sold lost about 9,200 USD.