Xiaomi to start mass production of electric vehicles by early 2024

Chinese smartphone major Xiaomi announced on Tuesday that the company would begin mass production of its electric vehicles by the first half of 2024.
The news was revealed by the company's Chief Executive Officer Lei Jun at an investor day meeting.
The news was also later confirmed by Zang Ziyuan, a director in Xiaomi's international marketing department, who posted the news on his verified Weibo account.
In March this year, Xiaomi announced its foray into the electric car market and revealed plans to invest 10 billion dollars in the business over a period of 10 years.
Later in September, the company officially registered Xiaomi EV, Inc, its electric vehicles brand.
The electric vehicle business has employed 300 people and they were selected from among more than 20,000 applicants.
Xiaomi EV will set up its first plant for the mass production of electric vehicle cars in the Beijing suburb of Yizhuang. The electric vehicle brand is headed by CEO Lei himself.
Commenting on the developments, Lei Jun said: "The release of an electric car is not a PR stunt. It so happened that cars from ordinary means of transportation have turned into smart and technological devices.
"The advent of the electric car is another step in building your own ecosystem, where everything is focusing on comfort and improving the user experience."
The race to dominate China's electric vehicle market is heating up with not only Xiaomi but other brands like search engine Baidu also announcing a standalone EV company in January and appointing a CEO thereafter.
Names like Nio, Xpeng and Elon Musk' Tesla are also forces to reckon with when the Xiaomi electric vehicle debuts in the market.