The Chinese brand is hiring experienced staff who will work in its new base in Europe
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by Brad Anderson
March 24, 2025 at 06:24
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- Currently, Xiaomi sells its electric vehicles only in China, but it plans to develop worldwide.
- Key hires include Rudolf Ditrich, who worked at BMW and two F1 teams.
- The brand says it is “planning” its European R&D facilities.
Xiaomi is determined to become a major world player in the VE industry and to get there, he recruits experienced talents from other brands, including at least five BMW senior executives. They will work at the brand’s research and development center in Europe, although an exact location for this site has not yet been announced.
Research via LinkedIn reveals that Xiaomi hired Rudolf Ditrich de BMW last year to serve as head of its European R & D center. Ditrich works with the German automaker for 15 years and also has experience in the teams of Williams and Sauber Formula 1. In addition, Dusan Sarac joined the European operations of Xiaomi after several years at BMW and Rolls-Royce.
Read: Xiaomi aims for sale more electric vehicles in China than all the combined German brands
Reuters understands that Jannis Hellwig has also jumped the ship from the Chinese brand EV and will serve as a senior engineer on the development and integration of performance. The technology giant is also looking for a senior car designer, a senior automotive outdoor designer and vehicle dynamics in Munich, Germany.
There is no word on the place where the European technology giant’s R&D installation is located, the brand simply saying that the site is “planning”.
It is not only the talent that Xiaomi tears off from the Germans. He wants to sell 350,000 electric vehicles in China this year, and if he can reach this goal, he will exceed the combined sales of Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz in 2024 and Porsche. It would be a whole feat for the company, especially since it started to build the electric sedan this time last year.
Now, with the Ultra SU7 on the market, Xiaomi seems to go more and more. In addition, 2025 should be a pivotal year for the company because it will start the production and deliveries of the YU7. The new electric SUV saps the Tesla Model Y and, given the global demand for high -level vehicles, should sell in number much larger than the SU7 sedan.
