Xiaomi remains discreet on the subject, but its automotive division has just won a valuable production license. Official green light for the launch of its first electric cars in 2024.
At the end of 2021, Xiaomi founded Xiaomi Auto Technology Co., Ltd, confirming its intention to enter the automotive market. He is not the only Chinese “big tech” to eye this sector. Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Huawei and others are thus involved at various levels in the electric car. But Xiaomi intends to launch its own car, under its own brand, without relying on another manufacturer.
The first model will be a D-segment electric sedan, a direct competitor to the Tesla Model 3 or BYD Seal. Especially since Xiaomi intends to offer both aggressive prices and up-to-date technologies. The project is well advanced, with prototypes being fine-tuned in various regions of China and a factory ready for production in 2024. The presentation should take place at the Beijing Motor Show next April. Xiaomi has also reserved the domain name xiaomiev.com (still inactive).
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Fourth license granted in 6 years
And the lights are now all green for Xiaomi, since its automotive subsidiary has just received the much sought-after sesame: a production license. This is only the fourth license granted by the NDRC (National Development and Reform Commission) since 2017. Many other manufacturers did not obtain this license and started their production by the back door (contract production at other manufacturers, takeover of “zombie” manufacturers, etc.). Some even saw their project purely and simply stopped when the vehicle was ready, like Niu with its Niutron SUV… The factory located in the suburbs of Beijing will be able to produce up to 200,000 cars per year.
The MS11 will use batteries supplied by BYD in the basic version (LFP) and 800V NMC batteries by CALB and CATL in the high end. Last week, the development manager mentioned consumption measurements of around 8.8 kWh / 100 km, without further details.
