BEIJING, December 13 (TMTPOST)— Chinese leading smartphone maker Xiaomi seems step on the gas in the auto industry as another subsidiary was said to become a new player amid the heating competition in the home market.

Source: Visual China

Yongdong, Ma, the senior program engineering manager and the head of electric vehicle (EV) program at Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center  (PATAC) , a joint venture between General Motors and SAIC Motor, has joined in Beijing SmartMi Technology Co.,Ltd, a Xiaomi-controlled company as well as a partner of Xiaomi ecosystem, to take charge of vehicle making, 36Kr learned from many people familiar with the matter on Monday. The company, also known as Zhimi Technology, has recently hired a number of former BAIC Motor employees who worked on electrical/electronic (E/E) architectures, according to the Chinese technology news media outlet. And it noted that an automotive design service provider has contacted Zhimi for the design of a complete vehicle, which is deemed as a move that demonstrates the company’s intention more clearly. “Zhimi aims to product passenger cars and the first model is set to be a SUV,” the person revealed to 36Kr. The company is reported to stay independent from Xiaomi Auto, another Xiaomi unit engaged in auto-making.  

Unlike other ecosystem partners that Xiaomi only has a minority of shares, Zhimi, a specialist of making air-conditioners and air purifiers, is a fully-controlled one as more than 90% of stakes are held by De Liu, Xiaomi’s cofounder and senior vice president, who worked as initiator of Xiaomi ecosystem. 36Kr’s sources said Zhimi’s workers also serve as the staff for Xiaomi’s exclusive quality assurance system.

Xiaomi Auto last month signed with the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area (BDA) and chose to settle in Yizhuang, a town in the southeast suburbs of Beijing, with the headquarters and centers of sales and R&D of the auto-making business. The facility aims to an annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles, with two-phase construction that each phase has a capacity of 150,000 units per year. It is expected the complete vehicle would first roll off the production line at the factory in 2024 and the mass production would begin the same year.  

It is said that Xiaomi Auto now has more than 500 workers and the R&D of the complete vehicle was located in Shanghai, while the R&D team in Beijing focuses on self-driving, cockpit and supply chain.