BEIJING, October 19 (TMTPOST)— Chinese smartphone giant and consumer electronics maker Xiaomi will start mass-producing electric vehicles in the first half of 2024, said Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi, at an investor event Tuesday.

The announcement marks new progress for Xiaomi’s vehicle business since it was first announced earlier this year, including the establishment of the company, dedicated team merger and acquisition. In March, Xiaomi said it would commit to investing US$10 billion in a new electric car division over the next ten years, Reuters reported earlier this year.

Xiaomi’s carmaking venture far exceeds the expectations, Lei said. As a new player in the car sector, Xiaomi’s progress in the past three years had been remarkable. It is reported that Lei Jun aims to sell 100,000 cars for the first year and 900,000 units in three years after mass production.

Xiaomi will sell its cars through its own offline outlet Mi Fan Club. “It would look very nice to have a car inside a Mi Fan Club,” Lu Weibing, president of Xiaomi China wrote on Weibo, suggesting that Xiaomi will be selling its own cars through Mi Fan Club.

Mi Fan Club is Xiaomi’s outlet service center, which also directly sells Xiaomi’s products, including the company’s smartphones, air purifiers and TV sets. Launched in late 2011, Mi Fan Club can now be found in over 30 cities in China. The first overseas Mi Fan Club opened in Barcelona, Spain, in 2018.

Xiaomi’s electric car business had been registered in Beijing on September 1, 2021, Lei said at the investor event. According to Lei, Xiaomi’s first car plant will be located in Yizhuang, Beijing. Xiaomi’s car division has received around 20,000 job applications. Currently, the company has 453 employees on its R&D team.

Xiaomi’s share price in Hong Kong increased by over 5% on Tuesday.