Xiaomi Cars is preparing the ground to seriously land in the world of electric cars also in Europe. After having made Tesla tremble in China, it is now aiming straight for Germany with a dedicated R&D center. This is not the first time we hear about theChinese car outside the home borders. However, the most interesting detail is not only where he will do it, but with whom he will do it.
Xiaomi Auto opens electric car R&D center in Germany
Xiaomi has decided not to settle for the role of smartphone and tech gadget giant anymore. After the debut of the SU7 electric sedan and the supercar in Ultra version, which has already beaten Tesla's Model 3 in sales in China since December, the Chinese giant is getting serious about electric cars. And now it's looking at Europe. More precisely, at Monaco di Bavaria, the historic home of BMW.
The move in question is a brand new research and development (R&D) center, dedicated exclusively to the automotive sector. Xiaomi is currently keeping tight-lipped about details such as the size of the investment or the opening date in Europe, but has confirmed to authoritative sources that the project è "in the planning stage”. And the signs that something big is cooking are all there.
The first clue comes from the names involved. The project will be headed by Rudolf Dittrich, former BMW with 15 years of experience behind him. He is not alone: at least four other senior profiles were fished out by the Bavarian company, according to what their LinkedIn profiles reveal.
Among these there is Dusan Poor, also formerly of BMW, who joined the European team just this month. Jannis Hellwig, another BMW veteran, will instead be the senior engineer for performance development.
BMW, when asked about the matter, did not want to comment on individual cases. But it did imply that the competition for the best talent is open, and Xiaomi Auto seems to have the right appeal at the moment.
The German center is also actively looking for new staff: senior automotive designers, vehicle dynamics experts and key figures in exterior design are some of the positions currently open. All of which suggests that Xiaomi wants to build not just a symbolic presence in Europe, but a true hotbed of innovation.
The ambition is clear: to become a global player in the electric car sector. President Lu Weibing has already put a date on the calendar: the 2027 is the year Xiaomi cars will start being sold outside China. Which markets will they target first? Mystery. But the opening of the center in Munich suggests that Europe, or at least part of it, is in their sights.
