The Chinese tech giant Xiaomi is the world’s third largest smartphone maker behind Apple and Samsung and now it plan to make smart electric vehicles too.
The company will be entering a fiercely competitive electric car market that also includes rivals Apple and Huawei; now we are getting some details about the tech giant’s electrified ambitions.
Lei Jun, the CEO of the Xiaomi Group, has revealed that the first EV will either be an SUV or a sedan, and that it will be priced within a range of CNY 100,000-300,000 (roughly Rs. 11-34 lakh).
Users were presented with an opinion poll regarding the kind of car they wanted Xiaomi to introduce first.
According to Jun, around 45% of users voted for sedan, nearly 40% chose SUV, and the rest selected sports car or RV.
One of the survey questions also discussed if Xiaomi should market the EV under its own brand or use another name. Close to 63% voted for Xiaomi to use its own brand name.
For the unversed, Xiaomi has already confirmed that it will invest around $10 billion into the smart electric vehicles venture over the next 10 years.
Other Chinese technology companies have also signaled their intention to make cars, or to partner with existing carmakers to produce new driving technologies.
Search engine giant Baidu announced in January it would also launch an electric car business.
China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba has formed an EV joint venture with SAIC, while ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing has partnered with automaker BYD to make electric vehicles specifically designed for its services.
Data provider S&P Global Platts estimates that “new energy vehicles” will account for 20% of total new car sales in China by 2025.
Reference- Xiaomi PR, BBC News, Inside EVs, Yahoo News, South China Morning Post, S&P Global