Xiaomi Auto (legally Xiaomi Automobile Co Ltd[2]) is a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Beijing.As of 2025, Xiaomi Auto has a market capitalisation of approximately US$135.2 billion.It is a subsidiary of Chinese consumer electronics company Xiaomi.Founded in 2021 by Xiaomi founder and chairman Lei Jun, the company mainly develops and manufactures electric vehicles.
History
In January 2021, Lei Jun received a call informing him that Xiaomi had been sanctioned by the United States. During an emergency meeting with the board of directors, someone raised the question of what would happen to Xiaomi's 30,000 or 40,000 employees if the company's mobile phone business could no longer continue. This led to Xiaomi's plan to diversify into car manufacturing.[3]Lei Jun then received strong recommendations from his friends, such as Nio CEO William Li and XPeng
CEO
He Xiaopeng
to enter the automotive industry.
He acknowledged that the transition into smart electric vehicles was an inevitable trend.[3]
On March 30, 2021, Xiaomi announced that would establish a wholly owned subsidiary dedicated to the intelligent electric vehicle (EV) business.
The initial investment for this venture was set at 10 billion Chinese yuan, with an expected total investment of 10 billion US dollars over the next 10 years.
Lei Jun, the CEO of the group, would also serve as the CEO of the intelligent electric vehicle business.[4] On September 1, 2021, Xiaomi Automobile Co., Ltd. was officially established.
At that time, commentators suggested to Lei Jun that the priority should be launching the car as soon as possible, rather than handling everything in-house, and that Xiaomi should collaborate with an established OEM.
However, Lei Jun rejected this approach, stating that he will not take shortcuts.
By not outsourcing, all core technologies had to be developed in-house during the manufacturing process.[3]
Following the announcement, Xiaomi Auto attracted a wide range of talent, including Liu Anyu, an early Xiaomi entrepreneur, Li Tianyuan, a European-based Chinese car designer that built his career in BMW, and Hu Zhengnan, a partner at Shunwei Capital.
Xiaomi Auto's recruitment efforts were met with an overwhelming response, receiving approximately 380,000 job applications.[3]
On November 27, 2021, the Municipal Government of Beijing and Xiaomi officially signed a cooperation agreement, formally announcing Xiaomi Automobile's establishment in the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone.
Xiaomi Automobile plans to build a two-phase vehicle factory with a cumulative annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles.
The production capacities for the first and second phases are 150,000 vehicles each.
The first car is scheduled to roll off the production line in the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone in 2024, marking the commencement of mass production.[5]
In March 2022, Xiaomi Group released its annual performance report for 2021.
The report revealed that Xiaomi's intelligent electric vehicle business had progressed beyond expectations since announcing the car manufacturing plan in March 2021.
Xiaomi's first trial production car was completed on 16 August 2023 and subsequently underwent extensive winter and summer vehicle testing.[3] As of December 2023, the research and development team for its automotive business has grown to exceed 1,000 people, and it is anticipated that formal mass production will commence in the first half of 2024.[6]
On 28 December 2023, Xiaomi has unveiled its first electric car, the SU7.[7] The SU7 was formally launched on 28 March 2024 in Beijing, with Xiaomi starting to take orders for the car on that day.[8] As of June 2024, the total number of Xiaomi Auto's offline retail stores in China exceeded 12,000.[9]
In July 2024, Xiaomi Auto gained an independent car-making qualification from the Chinese government after previously using BAIC Group's credentials.[10] In the same month, Xiaomi Group spent 840 million to purchase Beijing Yizhuang New Town to build a car manufacturing plant.[11]
On November 15, 2024, Lei Jun announced that he plans to launch an end-to-end large-scale intelligent driving system that can realize the full-scene intelligent driving experience of driving and parking by the end of the next month,[12] and named its end-to-end intelligent driving system service Xiaomi HAD (Xiaomi Hyper Autonomous Driving).[13]
On 22 May 2025 during a 15th anniversary event, Xiaomi revealed details of its second vehicle, the YU7 SUV, which is expected to launch later that year in July.
The reveal was originally scheduled to be at Auto Shanghai in late-April, but was delayed due controversies surrounding the fatal crash of a Xiaomi SU7 carrying three college students in assisted driving mode on 29 March.[14]
On 31 May 2025, Xiaomi announced that it had opened 29 new stores in May, for a total of 298 stores serving 82 cities in China.
It also plans to open 37 new stores in 10 cities in June.
As of May 31, there are 153 Xiaomi service centers covering 88 cities.[15]
On 10 July 2025, Xiaomi Auto announced that its cumulative deliveries have exceeded 300,000 units.[16] On 20 November 2025, the 500,000th Xiaomi vehicle rolled off its production line.[17]
