Baic Unit Applies For Approval To Build Xiaomi: branded EVs in China (updated)

Baic Motor

15/11/2023 09:44

(Recasts through with new EV model specs and context)
       BEIJING, Nov 15 (Reuters) - A unit of Beijing-based
automaker BAIC Group  1958.HK  has applied to regulators for
approval to build two Xiaomi-branded  1810.HK  electric vehicles
(EVs), China's industry ministry website showed on Wednesday.
   The foray by Xiaomi, best known for making smartphones and
appliances, could intensify competition in the world's largest
auto market, where overcapacity and slowing demand have fanned a
bruising price war and hit supplier margins. 
    BAIC ORV is proposing to build two versions of the new
Xiaomi-branded model in Beijing, according to its filing: the
SU7 with BYD's lithium iron phosphate batteries and a top speed
of 210 kilometres per hour (kph); and the SU7 Max with CATL's
nickel- and cobalt-based lithium batteries and speed of up to
265 kph. 
        Both models bore a "MI" logo in the front and carried
the "Xiaomi" name on their rear, pictures published on the
Ministry of Industry and Information's (MIIT) website showed.
  
        The filing indicates that BAIC will be the manufacturer
for these two models, even though Xiaomi has built a plant that
can produce 200,000 EVs annually in Beijing. The new EVs will be
built at a production site that is the same address as the
Xiaomi plant, China Business News reported.
  
        Both BAIC and Xiaomi did not immediately respond to
requests for comment on the EV applications. 
  
        Reuters 
    reported in August that China's state planner had given
approval to Xiaomi to build electric vehicles but that it still
needed clearance from the MIIT, which assesses new automakers
and models for technical and safety requirements.
        The ministry publishes lists almost on a monthly basis
of aspiring auto manufacturers applying for approvals, but
Xiaomi was not among firms named on the latest list published on
Wednesday.
  
    The company's progress on EV manufacturing is ahead of
schedule, Xiaomi President Lu Weibing told a company earnings
call in late August. Its revenue fell 4% in the second quarter
from a year earlier amid a shrinkage in China's smartphone
market.
    Tesla Inc  TSLA.O  had yet to win a regulatory nod to
proceed with its Shanghai plant expansion plan, Reuters reported
in June. U.S. luxury EV maker Lucid Group  LCID.O , keen on
made-in-China cars, has also been advised of the low likelihood
for approval, sources have told Reuters. 
    
   

 (Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Additional
reporting by Mo Yelin in Beijing; Editing by Muralikumar
Anantharaman and Kim Coghill)
 ((qiaoyi.li@thomsonreuters.com;))