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| Xiaomi has opened an electric car factory in Beijing |
The authorities in the Chinese capital, Beijing, announced that the Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi is building a factory in Beijing that can produce 300,000 cars annually for the manufacture of electric cars.
The government-backed Beijing Electronic City Economic Development Bureau announced on its official WeChat account that the facility will be built in two phases.
Xiaomi is also building a headquarters, sales and research office for the automotive division in the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone.
Beijing Yicheng said it expected the facility to reach mass production in 2024, a target the company's chief executive announced in October.
The company has opened thousands of stores to drive domestic sales growth in its smartphone business. But he wants to use these markets as a sales channel for electric car plans.
A Xiaomi spokesperson said at an investor event that the Chinese smartphone manufacturer will mass-produce its own cars in the first half of 2024.
This is not the first time the company has talked about entering the electric vehicle market. The company announced the move in the first quarter of 2021.
In May, the company's president identified electric vehicles as one of the greatest job opportunities of the next decade.
History is the next big focal point for the company's fledgling electric vehicle division. Xiaomi officially announced it earlier this year.
Xiaomi wants to produce 300,000 cars a year
The company said in March it had pledged to invest $10 billion in a new line of electric vehicles. over the next ten years.
At the end of August, the company completed the registration of the activity of its electricity division. It also acquired DeepMotion, a company dedicated to self-driving technology.
The company has not yet revealed whether it produces the cars independently or is working with existing automakers to produce the cars.
The company released its latest financial report earlier this month. According to reports, the R&D department currently employs 13,919 people. More than 500 members are committed to the company's automobile projects.
In addition, a strong R&D department with nearly 14,000 members accounts for approximately 44% of the company's total workforce.
There are still many unknowns about the company's electric vehicle strategy, including prototypes and international expansion.
The new Beijing factory shows that Xiaomi intends to become an electric car manufacturer and compete with Chinese competitors such as Weilai and Xiaopeng, as well as large overseas automakers such as Tesla.