The Chinese tech giant, which recently unveiled its first in-house electric car, the Xiaomi SU7, has shared footage of its assembly line.
Lei Jun, the founder, chairman of the board, and CEO of Xiaomi, said that the company assembles 40 cars per hour. This means that a brand new SU7 rolls off the assembly line every 76 seconds.
This result was achieved due to the high automation of the production line and the use of 700 intelligent robots during assembly. The robots perform a variety of tasks, such as transporting parts, as well as checking and installing them.
According to the company’s CEO, the body shop employs 20 employees and 381 robots. One workstation is equipped with eight “robotic arms” (four on each side of the car) that install body panels and fit them.
The robots are also installing glass and a panoramic roof. In general, it takes less than 30 seconds to assemble one body. According to Xiaomi, this is twice as fast as other automakers. A similar system has been installed in the paint shop. The company believes that the use of robotic systems is more efficient than human operators.
Xiaomi plans to reach sales of 100,000 units per year in 2024 and up to 900,000 units over the next three years. To do this, the company began providing SU7 to bloggers and influencers before launching sales, and it seems to have achieved the desired result.
In just the first half hour after the order was opened, the company received 50,000 booking requests. In 24 hours, they received 90,000 bookings. The company has already started delivering the car to customers.
