Chinese state planner approves of Xiaomi’s EV plans

Smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi is one step closer to producing electric cars after receiving rare approval through China’s National Development and Reform Commission. The NDRC regulates new investment and production capacity in China’s auto industry.

According to Reuters sources, China’s state planner granted Xiaomi approval to produce electric cars earlier this month. The company is only the fourth since the end of 2017 to receive NDRC approval amid tightening market conditions.

Still, this is not the last hurdle – China’s Ministry of Industry and Information must confirm the approval. The MIIT reviews new car manufacturers and models for technical and safety requirements and will already have something to test.

Xiaomi reportedly completed building a factory at its home base in Beijing and is preparing to start production in December 2023. That is slightly earlier than planned when announcing the plant in 2021. Xiaomi has also doubled production targets and wants to build 200,000 electric cars in 2024.

Plans to enter China’s NEV market go back to March 2021 when Xiaomi announced a ‘Smart Electric Vehicle Business’ subsidiary with a ten-billion-dollar budget (about 8.5 billion euros) over ten years. Reuters, at the time, reported Xiaomi launched its subsidiary called Xiaomi Automobile Technology with one billion yuan (just under 140 million euros). The CEO of the new company is Lei Jun, the founder and overall CEO of Xiaomi.

The company also announced plans for a model line-up in 2022 comprising four electric vehicles to cover different price segments. The first model, an electric sedan to rival the Tesla Model 3, is slated for launch later this year, as reported.

Earlier reports from China saw Xiaomi Group investing in several companies involved in smart electric vehicles. CEO Lei Jun at the time also set a target of delivering more than ten million cars a year in the future.

Xiaomi is the world’s third-largest smartphone brand by shipments. Reuters writes that the group wants to move away from its main smartphone business in the face of falling demand. China’s smartphone sales are said to have fallen 4% year-on-year in Q2/ 2023, the lowest since 2014. The news agency adds that Xiaomi may use thousands of its mobile shops as showrooms for electric cars.
reuters.com