A few days ago, netizens revealed that during the Guangzhou Auto Show, Xiaomi SU7 had an additional 6,000+ locked orders in a week, surprising and delighting Xiaomi.

It was surprising because Xiaomi still had a backlog of cars to deliver, and suddenly having 6,000 more orders next week meant the delivery schedule would be extended by another six months. The good news was that despite the long wait, fans were still willing to wait half a year for Xiaomi SU7.

In fact, since Xiaomi launched the SU7, it has been in a state of supply not meeting demand, with production capacity unable to keep up with orders.

Initially, when deliveries first began, monthly production capacity was less than 10,000 vehicles.

However, within just 27 minutes, orders exceeded 50,000, and within 24 hours, orders approached 90,000. It is reported that over the following month, locked orders exceeded 100,000.

With monthly production capacity of less than 10,000 and monthly orders exceeding 100,000, does it mean it will take over 10 months to fulfill all orders?

As a result, Xiaomi worked overtime and switched to a two-shift production schedule for the SU7. In June, the first monthly delivery volume reached 10,000 vehicles, and by October, it reached 20,000 vehicles.

It took only 43 days for the 10,000th Xiaomi SU7 to roll off the production line, 72 days for the 20,000th, and 230 days for the 100,000th, setting new records for Xiaomi.

However, this pace still cannot keep up with the speed of orders. Currently, the estimated delivery time on the Xiaomi app is at least five months from the date of order. Based on the current monthly production capacity of 20,000 vehicles, there are still over 100,000 orders pending.

Clearly, Xiaomi still has a backlog of cars to deliver, with production capacity falling far short of order volume.

In fact, many automakers have encountered similar situations before. For example, Tesla's best-selling Model 3 faced production hell, delaying deliveries by 6 to 9 months and causing strong dissatisfaction among users.

NIO, Xpeng, and Li Auto also experienced such pain. When they first started manufacturing cars, production capacity was low, but due to well-defined car features, they had no shortage of users or orders. As a result, car deliveries could not keep up with orders, leading to criticism.

AITO faced a similar situation, from the M5 to the AITO M7 and M9, due to overwhelming orders and insufficient production capacity, it was criticized.

Now, Lei Jun will experience the hardships and pitfalls that Tesla, NIO, Xpeng, Li Auto, and AITO have already faced. These pitfalls cannot be avoided in advance.

Before a car is launched, it is impossible to stockpile tens of thousands of vehicles in advance or to increase production capacity to hundreds of thousands of vehicles annually with certainty.

Therefore, any new entrant that gains popularity from the start cannot avoid the pitfall of production capacity. Neither Musk, Yu Chengdong, nor Lei Jun can escape this reality. They can only relive the pain experienced by their predecessors.