Having established its presence in smartphones, TVs, audio devices and more, the tech giant is looking to drive into a new category – automobiles. rumors about Apple Working on the car Have been circling for some time. even Xiaomi is working on its first car and now its founder and CEO has confirmed some of the developments surrounding it.
According to a report by Gizmo China, Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun held a Q&A session on Weibo, a popular social media platform in China. During the session, Lei Jun said that Xiaomi will launch its first car in 2024. It was earlier projected to launch in 2026.
Earlier this year, Xiaomi officially announced its EV – Electric Vehicle – unit. Last week, the company said that it is working on setting up a plant in China. As per reports, the plant will have a capacity to produce 3 lakh electric vehicles annually.
Reports have suggested that Xiaomi plans to invest close to $10 billion on its electric vehicle plan. Lei Jun said that the company has more than 10,000 people working on the research and development of the project. Lei Jun will also head the company’s car division. He was asked on Weibo if the car plans will change Xiaomi’s approach towards the phone. He added that phones will be Xiaomi’s core business.
Another tech giant that is rumored to be working on a smart electric car is Oppo. However, details are scarce about Oppo’s plans for this segment. Apple has also never openly mentioned its car plans, but the rumors about it refuse to go away. In an interview earlier this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked about autonomous cars and Apple’s plans. Cook had said, “I think autonomy is a core technology in itself. If you take a step back, a car is in many ways a robot. An autonomous car is a robot. And so there are a lot of things you can do. Can do with autonomy. And we’ll see what Apple does.”
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