Former Deputy General Manager of Wuling Business Department of SGMW Joins Xiaomi

It was reported that Zhou Xing, former deputy general manager of Wuling Business Department of SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW), will officially join Xiaomi in August as the marketing director and report directly to CEO Lei Jun. The move was confirmed by Zhou Xing but he did not disclose any more information. The news was first reported by domestic media outlet Cailian Press on July 21.

Public records show that Zhou Xing joined SGMW in 2011 and began serving as the director of the marketing center of the sales business in 2019. In 2020, he took over the brand and marketing director position. Later, Zhou was promoted to deputy general manager of the company’s Wuling Business Department.

“Zhou has an open mind and is very thoughtful,” onesenior vehicle industry insider familiar with Zhou Xing commented. The industry seems to believe that the addition of Zhou means that Xiaomi‘s vehicle manufacturing is entering into a sales plan phase According to Xiaomi, its first mass production car model will be rolled off the production line at the Yizhuang factory in Beijing in 2024.

Xiaomi‘s auto business has attracted at least three executives from traditional car companies. Prior to this, Yu Liguo, a former BAIC executive, joined Xiaomi Auto at the beginning of this year as vice president and political commissar of the venture’s Beijing headquarters. Yu is responsible for coordinating the comprehensive management of Xiaomi Auto and the organization and talent management of the Beijing headquarters. Hu Zhengnan, former dean of Geely’s research institute, joined Shunwei Capital, a venture capital institution founded by Lei Jun in 2012. According to insiders, Hu Zhengnan is heading up  Xiaomi‘s vehicle manufacturing project.

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Almost at the same time as it was revealed that Zhou had joined Xiaomi, some netizens posted on domestic social media that Rivian R1T, an American-brand electric pickup truck, was recently seen at Xiaomi‘s Beijing headquarters. The model is positioned as a pure electric pickup truck and is regarded as one of the main competitors of Tesla’s Cybertruck. The vehicle is unique as it adopts front and rear wheel drive motors which provide a rated kinetic energy of 147kW (200 horsepower) for each wheel. The system can output up to 800 horsepower, and the total instantaneous torque on the four wheels is up to 14000 Nm.