Xiaomi is hiring for a number of self-driving-related positions, hinting that the smartphone giant may locate its R&D center in Beijing.
Xiaomi released job postings on its website on June 15 showing that positions related to autonomous driving, including data platforms, in-vehicle infrastructure and decision planning, are open, and each job posting is preceded by the word “urgent”.
These positions are all located in Haidian District, Beijing, where Xiaomi is headquartered.
This is seen as a possible location for Xiaomi’s R&D center in Beijing, although this has not been confirmed by Xiaomi.
Since Xiaomi announced its entry into the car-making business on March 30 this year, it has been rumored that a number of places, including Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan, are approaching Xiaomi to locate its businesses in the cities.
Since the announcement, Xiaomi Chairman Lei Jun has been visiting various locations and frequenting various OEMs, including BYD, SGMW, and the Great Wall Motors.
Xiaomi’s most recent move was at a quarterly earnings call in late May, and Xiaomi President and acting CFO Wang Xiang said it might take 3 years to make a good car, but he doesn’t think the chip shortage will continue for 3 years and is not thinking about it now, adding that Xiaomi is still in the early stages of building a car.
Earlier this month, Qualcomm-backed Chinese self-driving startup ZongmuTech announced Thursday that it closed a cumulative $190 million Series D round of funding from investors including Hubei Xiaomi Changjiang Industrial Investment Fund, backed by Xiaomi.
This is one of the first investments made by a Xiaomi-backed fund in the industry chain since the company officially announced its entry into the car-making sector on March 30.
With this investment, ZongmuTech is expected to start multi-dimensional cooperation in Xiaomi’s smart scene application area, the startup said.
This article was first published by Phate Zhang on CnEVPost, a website focusing on new energy vehicle news from China.
