Xiaomi’s Lei Jun Says He’s Ready to Risk Reputation on Electric Car Venture
Lv Qian
DATE:  Mar 31 2021
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Xiaomi’s Lei Jun Says He’s Ready to Risk Reputation on Electric Car Venture Xiaomi’s Lei Jun Says He’s Ready to Risk Reputation on Electric Car Venture

(Yicai Global) March 31 -- Lei Jun, the founder of China’s biggest smartphone maker, has said he is willing to chance his reputation on Xiaomi’s next great business venture -- electric car production -- which, he added, will also be his last.

The Beijing-based company confirmed yesterday that it plans to spend USD10 billion on the new venture, which Lei will head, over the next 10 years. The long-anticipated announcement means that another of China’s big internet firms has joined the likes of e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group Holding and search engine titan Baidu in entering the country’s fast-growing electric vehicle market.

It was the biggest decision Xiaomi has made since it was set up in 2010, Lei said at a new product launch yesterday, and it came after management visited 85 auto firms and spoke with more than 200 industry veterans in the past 75 days. The decision also followed four internal discussions, two formal board meetings and a rigorous study, he said.

Lei, who is also Xiaomi’s chief executive, told his audience that over the course of his career he has gone from a programmer to a manager, from an entrepreneur to an investor, and from the internet domain into hardware production.

Xiaomi will outsource the assembly of its vehicles to contract manufacturers, Bloomberg News reported, citing a person familiar with the matter, but the company has no plans to choose “established” automakers as partners.

Xiaomi may also not opt for an established contract manufacturer such as Magna, since well-known carmakers may not want to damage their brand value or create competitors, said Zhang Xiang of North China University of Technology’s research center on auto industry innovation.

Nio’s contract manufacturer JAC Motors, Xpeng’s Haima Motor, and others that have been reduced to second-tier status would be ready to take on the task, Zhang said.

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Peter Thomas

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Keywords:   Lei Jun,Xiaomi,Electric Car