BYD Co. will assist major smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. to develop intelligent full electric vehicles.
The major electrified vehicle manufacturer will support Xiaomi in developing its vehicle business, BYD founder and Chairman Wang Chuanfu said at an auto industry forum in the southwest China municipality of Chongqing this week.
“BYD and Xiaomi are negotiating some projects for cooperation in the automotive field,” he added, without providing additional details about the partnership.
In March, Xiaomi, a Hong Kong-listed company, announced plans to develop and produce smart EVs over the next three years with an initial investment of 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion).
BYD, partly owned by U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett, is the largest domestic Chinese electrified-vehicle maker.
In the first five months of 2021, the company delivered 113,213 full electric and plug-in hybrids, an increase of 143 percent over the same period last year.
BYD is also the second-largest battery maker in China following CATL. As of May, its total installed capacity of batteries used in electrified vehicles and for energy storage reached 9.93 gigawatt-hours.
While producing and marketing electrified and gasoline vehicles, BYD launched a customized electric multipurpose vehicle for domestic ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxin in 2020.
Last year, it also established a 345 million yuan joint venture in the south China city of Shenzhen with Toyota Motor Corp. The 50-50 partnership is expected to develop EVs and market them under the Toyota brand in China.