China smartphone maker Xiaomi prepares $10bn EV foray

Announcement follows moves by Baidu and Alibaba to tap lucrative industry

China's Xiaomi has enjoyed strong smartphone shipments and is now looking to tap the electric vehicle market. © Reuters

NIKKI SUN, CHENG TING-FANG and LAULY LI, Nikkei staff writers

March 30, 2021 20:14 JST

HONG KONG/TAIPEI -- Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is planning a $10 billion foray into the booming electric vehicle market.

Xiaomi unveiled plans on Tuesday to set up a wholly owned unit to manufacture clean-energy cars, saying it will invest 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) for the first phase and an expected $10 billion in the next 10 years. Xiaomi's founder and CEO Lei Jun will lead the new EV unit.