Powerful framing on perception becoming reality. The strategic mistake wasnt just skipping CES, it was letting Chinese brands own the narrative unchallenged at a show that shapes tech buyer expectations for the next decade. When legacy automakers treat CES as optional while startups and Chinese OEMs treat it as mission-critical, they're signaling they dont understand that cars are consumer electronics now, not just transportation. I've watched this patern play out in other industries where incumbents cede mindshare first, then marketshare follows automatically.
I visited the Xiaomi factory last November. Incredibly impressive. The place is 90+% automated. They produce something like 400K vehicles a year there with only 400-500 people.
The factory floor was practically devoid of people, I saw 30-50 people in the control center and 20 people with tablets on the factory floor itself. The rest is all robots.
Main use of human labour seems to be the finer detailed finishing for interior etc.
Michael, the "Vacuum Cleaner Car" is not a gimmick. It is the end of the Old World.
You captured the signal perfectly: Dreame (a robot vacuum maker) building a supercar. Most people laugh at this. I see it as the ultimate proof of System B's Supply Chain Maturity.
1. The "Lego-fication" of the Auto Industry When a vacuum company can build a sub-2-second car, it proves that the "Chassis" is no longer a Moat. The Chinese supply chain (CATL for power, Huawei for brains, BYD for parts) has turned the vehicle into a standardized commodity. If you have the software and the brand, the "car part" is now Plug-and-Play. Legacy Auto's 100 years of "Metal Bending" expertise just got devalued to zero.
2. Why Detroit Stayed Home (Asset Denial) You say Detroit "didn't show up." In the ChinArb framework, this is Strategic Camouflage. If GM or Ford had shown up next to the Xiaomi YU7, the contrast would have been visually fatal.
Xiaomi: A mobile living room integrated with your home ecosystem.
Legacy Auto: A transportation device with a bolted-on iPad. Detroit knows they are currently bringing a Knife to a Gunfight. Staying home was the only way to avoid the public audit.
3. The New Velocity Xiaomi hitting 500k sales in 20 months is the R.I.C.E. Velocity. System A (Western Auto) operates on a 5-7 year cycle. System B (Chinese Tech-Auto) operates on an 18-month cycle. In a tech war, the slower loop doesn't just lose market share; it becomes obsolete before the product even launches.
Powerful framing on perception becoming reality. The strategic mistake wasnt just skipping CES, it was letting Chinese brands own the narrative unchallenged at a show that shapes tech buyer expectations for the next decade. When legacy automakers treat CES as optional while startups and Chinese OEMs treat it as mission-critical, they're signaling they dont understand that cars are consumer electronics now, not just transportation. I've watched this patern play out in other industries where incumbents cede mindshare first, then marketshare follows automatically.
Great Update thx.
I visited the Xiaomi factory last November. Incredibly impressive. The place is 90+% automated. They produce something like 400K vehicles a year there with only 400-500 people.
The factory floor was practically devoid of people, I saw 30-50 people in the control center and 20 people with tablets on the factory floor itself. The rest is all robots.
Main use of human labour seems to be the finer detailed finishing for interior etc.
"Perception Becomes Reality "!
Michael, the "Vacuum Cleaner Car" is not a gimmick. It is the end of the Old World.
You captured the signal perfectly: Dreame (a robot vacuum maker) building a supercar. Most people laugh at this. I see it as the ultimate proof of System B's Supply Chain Maturity.
1. The "Lego-fication" of the Auto Industry When a vacuum company can build a sub-2-second car, it proves that the "Chassis" is no longer a Moat. The Chinese supply chain (CATL for power, Huawei for brains, BYD for parts) has turned the vehicle into a standardized commodity. If you have the software and the brand, the "car part" is now Plug-and-Play. Legacy Auto's 100 years of "Metal Bending" expertise just got devalued to zero.
2. Why Detroit Stayed Home (Asset Denial) You say Detroit "didn't show up." In the ChinArb framework, this is Strategic Camouflage. If GM or Ford had shown up next to the Xiaomi YU7, the contrast would have been visually fatal.
Xiaomi: A mobile living room integrated with your home ecosystem.
Legacy Auto: A transportation device with a bolted-on iPad. Detroit knows they are currently bringing a Knife to a Gunfight. Staying home was the only way to avoid the public audit.
3. The New Velocity Xiaomi hitting 500k sales in 20 months is the R.I.C.E. Velocity. System A (Western Auto) operates on a 5-7 year cycle. System B (Chinese Tech-Auto) operates on an 18-month cycle. In a tech war, the slower loop doesn't just lose market share; it becomes obsolete before the product even launches.
Conclusion: CES 2026 wasn't a trade show. It was a Coronation. The King (Hardware) is dead. Long live the Emperor (Software). ref https://chinarbitrageur.substack.com/p/byd-the-war-for-detroit-is-off-the?r=71ctq6