(Yicai) Feb. 5 -- Xiaomi's first electric vehicle, the SU7, has begun road tests across China in final preparation for hitting the market, according to the founder of the Chinese handset giant. 

Lei Jun, who is also Xiaomi's Chief Executive, also said via Weibo on Feb. 3 that to allow him to focus more on the firm’s auto business, President Lu Weibing will step in as general manager of the Xiaomi brand, overseeing brand development and speaking at new phone launch events.

Smartphones are Beijing-based Xiaomi's main business, and Lei will continue to dedicate enough time to it, he pointed out.

Xiaomi Automobile unveiled the SU7 at an event in Beijing on Dec. 28. It can accelerate faster than Porsche's Taycan Turbo and Tesla's Model S, Lei said at the three-hour event, noting that the car is being produced in small batches and will come onto the market in a few months.

He said then that Xiaomi aims to make it into the ranks of the world's top five automakers within 15 to 20 years, providing consumers with good-looking, easy to operate, comfortable, and safe mobile intelligent spaces.

After years of development, Xiaomi is no longer a low-quality, low-price brand, but it is not a luxury brand either, so its first vehicle will likely sell for more than CNY200,000 (USD27,800) as a too-low price would hurt its brand, Zhang Xiang, a guest professor at Huanghe S&T University, told Yicai. The SU7 would face fierce competition if it were priced at around CNY250,000, Zhang added.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev