Months before he dropped to the floor in agony while grocery shopping with his young son, Wang Peizhi stayed up all night frantically preparing Xiaomi’s flagship store for the launch of its first electric vehicle.
Wang’s work had piled up after the company, led by billionaire co-founder Lei Jun, unveiled a bold plan to become the first tech firm to successfully shift into carmaking. Lei, 55, staked his reputation on the transition, a feat even Apple failed to achieve, vowing it was his “last entrepreneurial project.”
A key part of executing that vision was Xiaomi’s retail network — Wang’s responsibility. To compete with the likes of BYD and Tesla in China’s burgeoning EV market, the company had decided to overhaul its chain of retail outlets by converting stores designed for smartphones into showrooms to feature full-sized sedans and SUVs. But during the COVID pandemic, Xiaomi fired around half the staff responsible for the effort, leaving about 10 people, according to a former employee and a current staff member, both of whom worked with Wang and asked for anonymity to discuss sensitive issues.
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