Xiaomi has been the pioneer of inventing new technology when it comes to smartphones, Smart TVs and its wide range of AIoT products. It has quickly got into the Top 5 smartphone brands in the world and became the youngest company to register itself in the Fortune 500.
So, the success story of Lei Jun’s Xiaomi is now widely known by the world and now they seem to take the next step with this recent announcement. We already knew it was coming from the Reuter’s report that Xiaomi could eventually step into the electric vehicle (EV) market.
Now, Xiaomi has confirmed this that their Xiaomi ELectric Vehicles are at an early stage of development, as during its New Product Launch II event CEO Lei Jun spoke broadly about developing electric vehicles. It does make sense as the company has the resources to do so and with further investment, this is a profitable business that almost all major tech giants are targeting at.
As stated by the official announcement, the electric vehicle company will be a ‘wholly-owned subsidiary’ much like its brands like Poco or Redmi. Xiaomi has already invested CNY 10 billion (~US$1.5 billion) while the total investment is estimated to reach US$10 billion within 10 years.
Obviously, this is an initial commitment but with time, the product’s success will determine Xiaomi’s fate. It is reported that Xiaomi will contract Great Wall Motors to produce its EVs, and even use their factories to produce them. However, all of the things are in an initial stage and it will be interesting to see Xiaomi’s first Mi Car in action sometime later.
