Shortly after, a director of the company’s international marketing department, Zang Ziyuan, confirmed the news on the Chinese social media site Weibo. News of Xiaomi’s future with EVs was well received by the markets, with shares jumping by 5.4%. Reuters reports that this is the company’s largest daily percentage spike since May 12, 2021. Having its EV ready for mass-production by 2025 is a big target for the smartphone manufacturer. It’s worth pointing out that Xiaomi first shared plans for an electric vehicle (EV) in 2015. In March this year, the company said it would invest $10 billion in its EV division over ten years. In the meantime, Xiaomi finished the business registration of its new electric vehicle unit in August.
Xiaomi is reportedly making new hires in preparation for its EV division
Xiaomi is also looking to hire more employees for its EV unit ahead of mass-production in less than three years from now. However, the manufacturer hasn’t said if it will develop its upcoming EV through a partnership with another carmaker or produce the vehicle independently. Consumer electronics manufacturers stepping into the EV scene isn’t a new phenomenon. Companies like Apple and Google have long been working on EVs and self-driving automobiles of their own. But we’ve seen companies like Huawei and Sony joining the fray too. The latter shared a road-test video of its EV known as the Vision-S earlier this year. This EV was first shown off at CES 2020. Meanwhile, Huawei also has ambitions for an EV of its own. However, its plans appear to be in a nascent stage. Additionally, the Chinese OEM is reportedly planning to have a self-driving car over the next few years. A company executive said that they want to have “true driverless passenger cars” by at least 2025. This could be an overly optimistic timeline, given the regulatory and technical hurdles involved in the making of a self-driving vehicle. This highlights a general trend in the tech industry where manufacturers are keen on stepping into the automobile market. Huawei, Xiaomi, or Sony aren’t the first to have such ambitions, and they’re certainly not going to be the last either.
