Xiaomi recruits senior talent for European EV research centre

China's Xiaomi has hired at least five senior executives from firms including Germany's BMW Group, LinkedIn posts showed, as it advances plans to build an electric vehicle (EV) research and development centre in Europe.

The world's third largest smartphone maker began manufacturing EVs last year with the launch of the SU7 sedan after selling phones, household appliances and smart gadgets for most of its 15-year history.

It has since become one of the biggest disrupters in the Chinese car market, outselling Tesla's Model 3 since December, with company president Lu Weibing saying this week it will begin selling its cars abroad in 2027.

Xiaomi hired Rudolf Dittrich, a 15-year BMW veteran, last year to head the planned research centre, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Other new hires include Dusan Sarac, a former manager at BMW, who said on his LinkedIn profile he joined the European research centre this month. Jannis Hellwig also joined Xiaomi from BMW and will serve as a senior engineer on performance development and integration.

BMW told Reuters it does not comment on individual personnel matters and did not directly address the Xiaomi hirings. However, it said it remains steadfast in its “ability to attract and retain top-tier talent”.

Xiaomi is also hiring for several other positions to be based in Munich, Germany, including senior automotive designer, senior automotive exterior designer and vehicle dynamics engineers, according to the LinkedIn jobs page.

The company told Reuters on Friday its EV research and development centre in Europe is “in the process of planning”. It gave no details on the facility's planned location, when it will open or the size of Xiaomi's investment.

Lu did not elaborate on which markets it plans to target when it launches sales outside China.