Didi kicks off auto production project

China's top ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing has kicked off its own automotive production project and Xiaomi (1810) has applied for a trademark that has an automotive name, mainland media reports.

Yang Jun, vice president of Didi, will handle the automotive production project, the report said.

Xiaomi previously unveiled plans to invest about US$10 billion (HK$78 billion) over the next decade in manufacturing electric cars, embarking on its biggest overhaul to enter China's booming EV market.

Billionaire co-founder Lei Jun announced his intention to lead a new standalone division and spearhead the smartphone giant's drive into vast but unfamiliar territory, in what he called his final major startup endeavor.

The company will invest an initial 10 billion yuan (HK$11.89 billion) in smart vehicle manufacturing before ramping that up rapidly in subsequent years.

The Chinese smartphone maker joins tech giants from Apple Inc to Huawei Technologies Co in targeting the vehicle industry, betting future cars will grow increasingly autonomous and connected.

Depending on progress, Xiaomi could end up investing a total 100 billion yuan in the project in as little as three years, taking external financing into account, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.