Chinese technology firm Xiaomi is on track to release two electric vehicle (EV) models next year, according to the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
A recent catalogue of new energy vehicle (NEV) models issued by MIIT indicates that Xiaomi has filed two battery electric cars with the ministry for approval. One of the models will use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery produced by FinDreams Battery, a subsidiary of the country’s largest EV producer BYD, and the other will be equipped with ternary batteries provided by China’s largest battery manufacturer CATL.
The new cars will be sold under the marque “Beijing Xiaomi”, and state-owned automobile manufacturer BAIC will be responsible for the manufacturing of Xiaomi’s cars. More details including the output capacity and launch dates were not officially disclosed, while industry participants say the designed capacity would be 300,000 units/yr in two phases and commercial production will likely begin in early 2024.
Xiaomi announced in March 2021 that it had entered the EV manufacturing industry, with a string of investments in establishing a wholly-owned subsidiary to develop EVs with artificial intelligence and acquiring autonomous driving company Deepmotion. It in November of the same year signed a co-operation agreement with the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area in Daxing district of Beijing in which the production plant is located.
Xiaomi has joined the so-called “new car-making forces” in China, including EV ventures such as Li Auto, Xpeng, Nio, Leapmotor and Neta, which have grown their output, sales and shares significantly in China’s auto market during the past few years driven by the country’s supportive measures. The increase in new participants could cause more overcapacity problems and trigger even keener pricing competition, according to market participants. Increased competition in the Chinese EV market and a significant fall in feedstock costs had already prompted several EV producers to offer price promotions this year.
China’s NEV sales rose by 38pc from a year earlier to 7.352mn during January-October, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). But the growth is much lower than a year-on-year rise of 93pc in the whole of 2022, following the central government’s abolishment of EV subsidies at the beginning of this year.
