By Qiaofu

People, Cars, The World

Witnessing the Ascent of China's Auto Industry Hand in Hand

Amidst its fluctuating stock price, Lei Jun's Xiaomi has once again claimed a global milestone at the Nürburgring by completing an autonomous driving lap. From a marketing standpoint, this is undoubtedly a commendable feat.

However, I wish to offer two sobering thoughts to Lei Jun: firstly, the Nürburgring does not serve as a benchmark for intelligent driving; secondly, the true test of intelligent driving lies not in its upper bound but rather in its lower bound.

By orchestrating an autonomous driving lap at the Nürburgring, artificially carving out a path to earn the 'global pioneer' title, and subsequently hyping this achievement domestically, Xiaomi has epitomized its recent intelligent driving endeavor at the Nürburgring.

Xiaomi's likely intention is to leverage the Nürburgring's reputation to endorse its intelligent driving capabilities. Yet, the Nürburgring is not a litmus test for intelligent driving. Since its inception, the Nürburgring was never designed with intelligent driving in mind; back then, the very concept of intelligent driving had not even taken shape.

The Nürburgring can be seen as a proving ground for gasoline-powered vehicles during the internal combustion engine era.

It's perplexing why a Chinese automaker would choose a remote German town to test its intelligent driving in a controlled environment. Moreover, the main contenders in the intelligent driving arena are currently based in China (Huawei, XPeng, BYD) and the United States (Tesla).

It would make more sense for Xiaomi to compete with Huawei in China or go toe-to-toe with Tesla in the United States. There's no necessity to seek a unique global first at the Nürburgring.

For the vast majority of consumers, the Nürburgring is merely a so-called 'racing mecca' that has been heavily marketed and instilled in their minds.

During the gasoline-powered car era, the Nürburgring did serve as a testing ground for some automakers to validate their technologies. Back then, the Nürburgring track was primarily a technical validation site. In the electric vehicle era, however, the Nürburgring has begun to degrade into a mere marketing ploy. Automakers completing laps there do so more for publicity and to brainwash the public. The most absurd aspect is that many automakers use specially tuned cars for these laps but omit mentioning these modifications in their marketing, leading the audience to believe that mass-produced cars can achieve such outstanding performance.

Especially in the Chinese market, some marketing-savvy automakers often exploit Chinese consumers' information gap and their tendency to revere foreign brands, excessively hyping the Nürburgring and taking pride in obtaining Nürburgring certification. This mindset urgently needs correction.

Can Lei Jun's Xiaomi's inaugural intelligent driving lap at the Nürburgring prove that Xiaomi's intelligent driving is exceptionally safe? Opinions vary on this matter.

For intelligent driving, safety hinges more on the lower bound than the upper bound. The lower bound represents the safety threshold.

Lei Jun's Xiaomi completing a lap at the Nürburgring and setting a record can be seen as showcasing the upper bound. After all, the speed of its intelligent driving lap was impressive; it could even be considered blisteringly fast. However, whether any issues arose during this record-setting process and what those issues were remain undisclosed. In other words, Xiaomi's promotion this time has highlighted its best side, which is the upper bound.

Nevertheless, the lower bound represents the safety threshold, and Xiaomi should disclose more details about it.

For automakers, the occurrence of handovers or issues in intelligent driving is a probabilistic, or rather a mathematical and financial, concern. But for individuals, it's a binary issue—either it happens or it doesn't.

Opinions may differ among various groups regarding the quality of Xiaomi's intelligent driving and its market reputation. The merits of intelligent driving cannot be overshadowed by a few showcases.

Currently, regulators are showing a clear trend of tightening restrictions on the promotion of intelligent driving, putting a halt to the previously aggressive marketing tactics employed by automakers. Xiaomi's bold move of using intelligent driving to complete a lap at the Nürburgring is quite innovative. Xiaomi did not directly proclaim the sophistication of its intelligent driving but heavily promoted its intelligent driving capabilities through the Nürburgring lap.

Intelligent driving has always been a key differentiator for automakers. Now, by promoting its intelligent driving advantages in such a high-profile manner, Xiaomi has undoubtedly made another significant stride in intelligent driving marketing.