Chinese multinational electronics company Xiaomi has completed the official business registration of its electric vehicle (EV) unit in the country, marking its latest step towards the automotive sector.
The move comes as Xiaomi touts the new division to be at the “substantial development phase.” The newly registered subsidiary of the phone maker is carrying the name Xiaomi EV.
The additional division of the Chinese tech giant was set up with a whopping $1.55 billion and Xiaomi’s CEO Mr. Lei Jun will be its legal representative, the company said in a statement.
The company has so far employed nearly 300 staff to join the EV unit and it continues to recruit talent. The smartphone maker, which became the world’s second top-selling brand behind Samsung in the second quarter, confirmed its foray into electric cars in March, pledging to invest $10 billion over the next 10 years.
Xiaomi said that it has since conducted more than 2,000 interview surveys and visited over 10 industry peers and partners. It has revealed few details of its strategy for the automotive sector or vehicle types it intends to launch.
In line with its effort to boost research and development, last week, the company purchased autonomous driving technology startup Deepmotion for over $77 million.
Earlier this month it was reported that Xiaomi had entered talks with beleaguered real estate giant Evergrande Group to purchase a stake in the latter’s automotive unit. In response to the news, a spokesperson of the tech giant wrote on the company’s social media account that it is in touch with several automakers but has yet to decide which one to work with.
The second-quarter earnings of Xiaomi beat analyst estimates, with revenues and net profits increasing 64 percent and 87.4 percent respectively. The company’s share of the global smartphone market has surged following the retreat of its chief rival, Huawei Technologies in the face of US government sanctions.
