By Michael Elkins
According to a report by Chinese technology news website, Sina Technology, two sources revealed that Xiaomi Corporation (HK:1810) will most likely not acquire BAIC's (HK:1958) factories, nor does it intend to adopt the OEM model, but will build its own factories.
"Xiaomi will most likely not acquire production lines, or adopt the method of OEM production, and will continue to build its own factories with a high probability. According to the mass production schedule in 2024, it will be too late." The two sources revealed.
Xiaomi announced in November that the tech giant’s headquarters will be located in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, and a complete vehicle factory with a cumulative annual output of 300,000 vehicles will be built in two phases.
The sources also revealed that Xiaomi's engineering vehicle has been completed, and the software integration of the engineering vehicle can be completed around mid-October, and then various tests will be started.
Because Lei Jun, chairman of Xiaomi, has claimed that he will no longer respond to the information about Xiaomi cars, and will only disclose it through official channels, it is impossible to obtain Xiaomi's comments on the matter.