It's attractive for a city's administrators to have car companies come to their area. Now it looks like Beijing has finally gotten Xiaomi's car business.
The smartphone giant announced on September 1 that it had officially completed the registration of its car business as "小米汽车有限公司" (Xiaomi Automobile Co). The company has a registered capital of RMB 10 billion yuan ($1.54 billion), with Lei Jun, founder, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi, as its legal representative.
Xiaomi did not specify the city where the business was located at the time, but information from data provider Qichacha indicates that it is set up in Beijing.
Xiaomi Automobile has registered with the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area's Market Supervision Administration at a building in the area, the information shows.
The company's business scope includes the manufacture of new energy vehicles, technical research and development of automobiles and parts, research and development of electric motors and their control systems, manufacture of intelligent vehicle-mounted equipment, manufacture of lithium-ion batteries, sale of automobiles, auto parts and accessories, technology development, and technology import and export.
(Source: Qichacha)
On March 30, Xiaomi announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it plans to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary to take charge of the intelligent electric vehicle business.
Xiaomi's initial investment in the automotive business will be RMB 10 billion, with an expected investment of US$10 billion over the next 10 years.
Xiaomi will use its existing RMB 1,080 billion cash reserves, its 10,000-strong R&D team, its top three global cell phone business and the world's best smart ecosystem to build Xiaomi cars, Lei said.
Since the official announcement of Xiaomi's car, Lei's hometown, Wuhan, has suggested the Wuhan government to bring in Xiaomi's auto business.
In early April, the Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Commerce replied to such messages, saying that the city has been working closely with Xiaomi, and since the official establishment of Xiaomi's smart car business on March 30, the city has attached great importance to it and actively carried out contacts with it.
In addition to Wuhan, Shanghai, Wuhan, Hefei and Xi'an have all reportedly tried to get Xiaomi to locate its car-building project with them.
Last month, Auto Business Review mentioned that the headquarters and first factory of Xiaomi's car business have been largely confirmed to be set in Beijing.
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