After smartphones, Xiaomi launches into the electric car
An advertisement for Xiaomi in a Hong Kong metro station, July 9, 2018 © AP - Vincent Yu
Text by: Myriam Berber
4 min
Chinese giant Xiaomi, the world's number two smartphone company, has announced the creation of Xiaomi Auto, a subsidiary dedicated to electric cars.
A very competitive market today dominated by the American Tesla.
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The Xiaomi Auto company is officially registered on September 1.
Its goal: to create electric cars, the first model of which is scheduled for 2023. To achieve this, the Chinese giant has released an envelope of 1.5 billion dollars and plans to invest nearly 10 billion dollars in the next ten years .
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has indicated that the brand's first model will likely be a sedan or an SUV.
Aiways, BYD, SAIC, Geely, Byton… There are many manufacturers of hybrid and electric vehicles in China.
Their strength is to appeal to Westerners, but to locate production in China, which allows them to lower production costs and, therefore, offer cars at low prices.
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Also to listen: Electric vehicles: the Chinese champion BYD poses as a rival to Tesla [Today the economy]
Partnerships and buyouts
Two Chinese groups - the equipment manufacturer Huawei and the Internet giant Baidu - are also present in this market, but are instead developing autonomous driving technology.
Known for its smartphones, tablets and connected objects, Xiaomi will therefore be the latest to arrive in the electric car sector.
To enter this new market, Xiaomi bought DeepMotion, a company specializing in mobility that develops driver assistance software.
He also announced partnerships with, in particular, the manufacturer Great Wall Motor Co, known for its SUVs.
Its CEO Lei Jun has also met several times with Elon Musk, the boss of world leader Tesla.
The arrival of a Chinese newcomer is not good news for Tesla, which sells a quarter of its total production in China.
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To read also: Showdown between Beijing and Elon Musk over the Tesla electric car
Towards all-electric
These Chinese manufacturers are closely watched by the major
American
and European players.
Faced with the leader Tesla, the historic manufacturers are also betting on all-electric.
General Motors and Ford thus aim to achieve more than 50% of vehicles of this type sold each year in the United States.
In Europe, the Volkswagen, BMW, Stellantis and Renault groups are also increasing the number of hybrid and 100% electric vehicle models.
Their objective: to sell 70% to 90% of electrified vehicles by 2030.
In their sights, the deadline of 2035 which marks the end of sales of new
diesel and gasoline vehicles
in Europe.
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To listen and read also: Why the electric car is a hit in Europe [Today the economy]
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