Xiaomi has accelerated its electric-vehicle push by recruiting several former Tesla executives as it pushes to meet an annual delivery target of 550,000 vehicles.
On March 2, Chinese outlets including Hongxin News reported that Song Gang, the former vice president of production and manufacturing at Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory, has joined Xiaomi.
Song is expected to work with Ji Guowei, who oversees Xiaomi’s EV factories.
Local media described Song’s move as a critical step for scaling production and hitting the company’s delivery goals.
Song’s background includes time in manufacturing roles at General Motors (GM) and Ford. He joined Tesla in 2018 as a core early member of the Shanghai Gigafactory team, leading factory construction, capacity expansion and production-line optimization.
Xiaomi delivered 410,000 electric vehicles last year and has set a target of 550,000 deliveries for this year, aiming to average about 52,000 monthly deliveries starting this month.
To reach those targets, Xiaomi has ramped up full production at Beijing Plants 1 and 2, recently brought Plant 3 online and plans to start production at the Wuhan plant in May.
Local reporting noted that Xiaomi has largely completed the hardware buildout but still faces gaps in efficient mass production, supply-chain integration and quality control — areas where Song’s experience is expected to help.
Xiaomi also hired Kong Yenshuang last month, the former head of Tesla’s China operations who led the company’s domestic sales network and brand promotion.
Last year marked Xiaomi’s EV unit’s first annual profit, with revenue from electric vehicles and AI-driven innovation businesses totaling 106.1 billion yuan (about $15.37 billion), a 223.8% increase year over year.
