© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The Xiaomi brand is seen at a Xiaomi store, in Shanghai, China May 12, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
By Yelin Mo and Casey Hall
BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi (OTC:) took the wraps off its first electrical car on Thursday and promptly introduced it was aiming to turn out to be one in all world’s prime 5 automakers.
The sedan, dubbed the SU7, is a extremely anticipated mannequin that’s anticipated to profit from its shared working system with the corporate’s well-liked telephones.
But the automotive is making its debut at a time when the world’s largest auto market is wrestling with a capability glut and slowing demand which have stoked a bruising worth battle.
That did not cease Xiaomi Chief Executive Lei Jun outlining huge ambitions that embody constructing “a dream car comparable to Porsche and Tesla (NASDAQ:)”.
“By working hard over the next 15 to 20 years, we will become one of the world’s top 5 automakers, striving to lift China’s overall automobile industry,” Lei mentioned on the occasion.
Like a number of different tech companies, Xiaomi has been looking for to diversify past its core enterprise to EVs – a plan it first flagged in 2021.
It has pledged to take a position $10 billion in autos over a decade and is without doubt one of the few new gamers in China’s EV market as authorities have been reluctant so as to add to the availability glut.
At the launch occasion in Beijing, Lei mentioned the autonomous driving capabilities of Xiaomi automobiles can be on the forefront of the trade.
The Xiaomi-branded automobiles shall be produced by a unit of state-owned automaker BAIC Group in a Beijing manufacturing unit with an annual capability of 200,000 autos.
