XPeng CEO welcomes Xiaomi as a peer

Chinese electric car maker XPeng Motors CEO He Xiaopeng took to Weibo on March 31 to welcome Xiaomi as a peer, after the smartphone giant officially announced its entry into China’s increasingly crowded car-making industry.

“We have to applaud the brave, no matter what the outcome; the world will only be a brighter place if more and more people do it,” He said.

He previously said that the change in the automotive industry is similar to the transition from feature phones to smartphones and that the transformation period for cars is similar to the transformation period for smartphones in 2010.

Previous rumors have suggested that Xiaomi’s car-making brand’s position is similar to that of XPeng, a mid-to high-end new energy vehicle brand that emphasizes technology attributes.

Freeman Shen, CEO of electric car startup WM Motor, also welcomed Xiaomi via Weibo on Wednesday.

The biggest appeal of a person is the unique enthusiasm and courage to roll up their sleeves and get to work; there are no entrepreneurs who have everything going well, but those who succeed will fight for their dreams, Shen said.

Xiaomi’s car-making project said to be launched in April at earliest, with positioning similar to XPeng

(XPeng Motors CEO He Xiaopeng)