"I have no idea whether Rice Cars will succeed or survive."

The competition among new energy vehicle companies has been fierce in recent years, with new players entering the market one after another.

Whether or not Huawei manufactures cars is a matter of opinion.

(Anyway, in my opinion, it's no different from Seres personally getting involved.)

Luxshare Precision, a former Apple supplier, has also entered the market, announcing its intention to manufacture cars.

Not to mention international consumer electronics giants like Apple and Sony, who have also announced their participation in the new energy vehicle competition.

With companies like Li Xiaowei, BYD, and Tesla already established, and Apple and Sony's new energy vehicles soon to be launched, the market is poised to be competitive.

Rice is under immense pressure as their competitor, mainly because it lacks a core advantage. Can rice noodles really work for big-ticket items like cars?

Lei Jun felt the same way he said; he really had no idea.

Zheng Li: "With such success, DaMi Auto will definitely be fine. I have faith in DaMi's mature supply chain system and the DaMi team's execution capabilities."

Cars are a much greater test of a startup team's capabilities than mobile phones; the ability to succeed in building cars requires a down-to-earth work ethic.

But beyond basic skills, there are many other factors that determine whether one can survive.

People like Jia and Xu lack even the most basic ability to do things practically; their talk of building cars is just empty words.

Lei Jun's face was bitter: "Recently, Tesla announced a price reduction of 30,000 yuan in the Chinese market, bringing the price down to the 250,000 yuan range."

"This puts too much pressure on Dami Auto. Even with the support of super lithium battery technology, it will be difficult to beat Tesla at the same price point."

"Many successful entrepreneurs do not know why they succeeded. Although they may summarize various successful experiences, that is only a small part of the story."

"The biggest factor for entrepreneurial success is timing. If you seize the opportunity and do better than others, you will succeed. This is what we call the right opportunity."

"But the new energy vehicle trend, in the words of today's young people, is really too volatile."

"The difficulty is no less than starting a business in the mobile phone industry in 2020. Every pain point you can think of has been solved by your competitors."

"At the same time, only after truly entering this industry can one understand the power of Tesla."

"I heard that Tesla's price cut of 30,000 yuan is just the beginning, and it will drop another 30,000 yuan, bringing the price close to the 200,000 yuan range."

Zheng Li was surprised, because due to his entrepreneurial experience, he had a certain understanding of Blue Star's industries.

Zheng Li asked, "I'm very curious, Tesla's price is only between 250,000 and 300,000 yuan per unit, how come it's been reduced by 60,000 yuan?"

"With such a significant price reduction, won't it affect their own profits? After deducting the profit margins for marketing and for distributors, won't they be operating at a loss?"

Lei Jun explained, "That's what makes Tesla so terrifying."

"Their gross profit margin is 35%, so even if the price is reduced by 60,000, they can still make a profit."

"However, the profit margins of domestic new energy vehicle manufacturers are generally between 10% and 20%, and they cannot afford this level of price reduction."

"The super lithium battery put a lot of pressure on Tesla, but Tesla has resorted to the killer move of price cuts."

"Super range does solve the range anxiety of electric vehicle users, but this feature is not needed by every car owner."

"Many new energy vehicle users only drive in the city, and the super range is just icing on the cake for them."

Zheng Li: "So Tesla's price cuts can attract all these users who don't care about range?"

Lei Jun nodded: "A price reduction of 30,000 is unlikely, but a price reduction of 60,000 would definitely attract most customers in this price range who don't care about battery life."

Zheng Li: "What is the expected price of the rice car?"

When this was mentioned, Lei Jun sighed and said, "Our original plan was to divide the DaMi car into two models: one with super range and one without."

"Among them, the Mi Car, which does not have super-long range, is priced at around 150,000 yuan."

"But at this price point, if Tesla were to reduce its price by 60,000 yuan, the competitiveness of DaMi Auto without the Super Range feature would be too weak."

"This is not to say that the rice car products themselves are bad, but rather to take into account factors such as user acceptance."

Many investors are not optimistic about rice-based car manufacturing because cars are different from mobile phones.

A mobile phone malfunction will not affect your personal safety, but a car malfunction will.

Given how much pressure Xiaomi squeezes its supply chain, the same approach won't work in car manufacturing.

Here's a side note: Huawei phones never exploit suppliers, but Huawei exploits software service suppliers in every way.

Holding onto payments for goods is a common practice. What's most frustrating is that the time you spend providing software services for others depends on when they learn your technology.

Users clearly have doubts about the safety of rice-based cars.

Therefore, after Da Mi announced its car manufacturing plans, the secondary market voted with its feet, showing no optimism.

The stock price fell along with the Hong Kong stock market, plummeting to its ankles.

Until recently, after the launch of brain-computer interface VR, Dami acquired a 20% stake in the joint venture. Benefiting from this major positive development, Dami's market capitalization surpassed its previous peak.

Zheng Li knew why Lei Jun looked so much older this time. "He should be off the production line by now, right?"

Lei Jun: "The first batch of rice-filled cars is already in production, and the model number definitely can't be changed."

"The only question now is how much to lower the price."

"Originally, Dami Auto didn't want to go down the cost-effective route, but now it seems we have to go back to that route."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!