Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi announced on Tuesday that it will start producing electric cars. The company will invest approximately € 8.5 billion in the project over the next ten years.
Xiaomi establishes a subsidiary for the development and production of electric cars. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun will also become the director of that company. Initially Xiaomi will allocate € 1.2 billion for this project, but in the coming years the company wants to invest more money.
Last week it was already leaked that Xiaomi would be interested in the production of electric cars. The smartphone manufacturer seems to be following its American peer Apple, which would also work on a self-driving electric car. Telecom company and smartphone maker Huawei would also like to enter the electric car market.
The companies are counting on the fact that cars will increasingly be connected to each other and other devices in the future. They also expect autonomous driving to take off quickly. As a result, the tech companies see an opportunity to compete with existing car manufacturers.
Great Wall
It is rumored that Xiaomi is outsourcing the construction of the cars to the Chinese Great Wall. It could also be that Xiaomi simply uses cars from Great Wall as the basis for its own cars. Then Xiaomi can also look at Great Wall’s daughter brands Wey and Haval.
Pictured: the 2018 Wey-X Concept.