Xiaomi is strengthening its EV division’s leadership just days before the Beijing Auto Show — one of the biggest automotive showcases in the world.

The biennial event, which alternates with the Shanghai Auto Show, will take place in the tech giant’s home city this year.

It is scheduled to run from April 24 to May 3.

In an internal email sent last week, Xiaomi announced the appointment of Hu Zhengnan as Vice President of Xiaomi Group and the first Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of its Auto Division.

The auto unit had operated without a CTO since it was founded in 2021 — three years before the launch of its first electric car, the SU7 sedan.

Xiaomi’s EV unit now has over 10,000 employees, according to Chinese media outlet 36Kr.

Hu Zhengnan is an industry veteran with nearly three decades of experience, having entered the sector in 1997 at the Shanghai Automotive Industry Technical Center.

Throughout his career, the engineer developed some of the country’s most commercially successful vehicles.

These included the BYD F3, once China’s best-selling A-class sedan; the Great Wall Motor‘s Haval H6, a long-time SUV sales champion; and the Geely Boyue, which helped establish the company in the SUV market.

After stepping back from frontline vehicle development in 2021, Hu joined Shunwei Capital as an investment partner.

He had reportedly been advising Xiaomi‘s auto unit since its early development stage.

Song Gang has also been appointed VP of the Auto Division and Chief of Staff.

As previously reported, Song was one of two senior Tesla veterans recruited by Xiaomi earlier this year.

He spent over six years at the company, joining in 2018 after earlier stints at SAIC–GM and Ford.

He served as Senior Director and VP of Manufacturing at the Shanghai Gigafactory — widely credited with leading the buildout of the facility that became Tesla‘s highest-volume production plant globally.

He departed Tesla in December 2024 and briefly joined Envision Energy as Senior VP of Integrated Supply Chain, before moving to Xiaomi.

His hiring is directly tied to Xiaomi‘s production scaling challenges.

The company delivered more than 79,000 vehicles across its lineup in the first quarter of 2026 and is targeting 550,000 for the full year — up from 410,000 in 2025.

If it reaches its 2026 delivery target, Xiaomi could become one of the fastest automakers in history to surpass one million cumulative deliveries.

The leadership overhaul comes as Xiaomi continues to grow rapidly in China’s premium EV segment.

Last Friday, co-founder and CEO Lei Jun ruled out entering the sub-100,000 yuan vehicle segment for up to a decade.

The Chief Executive reaffirmed the company’s commitment to competing alongside Porsche and Tesla, rather than chasing volume in budget segments.

Xiaomi‘s debut model SU7 was reported to have outsold Tesla’s Model 3 in China in 2025.

It marked one of the first times the Model 3 was overtaken in China’s premium EV segment since Tesla began local production in 2019.

The company delivered 258,164 units of the SU7 last year, nearly 30% more than the Model 3’s 200,361 deliveries, according to data from China’s Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

The second-generation SU7, which launched on March 19, sold 15,000 units in its first 34 minutes on sale, with locked orders surpassing 40,000 within weeks.

The YU7 SUV — Xiaomi‘s second model and a direct competitor to Tesla‘s Model Y — launched in June 2025.

Prices for the model begin at 253,500 yuan — 10,000 yuan below the refreshed Model Y.

The model broke all previous records for a car launch in China, registering over 289,000 firm orders within one hour, and achieved over 150,000 deliveries in its first six months.

Xiaomi will bring its full production lineup to the 2026 Beijing Auto Show, which is scheduled to run between April 24 and May 3.

The company’s booth will display the second-generation SU7, the YU7 SUV, and the SU7 Ultra — alongside what the company described as its “Human x Car x Home” full ecosystem solutions.

Xiaomi has not announced whether any of its upcoming extended-range electric (EREV) SUVs will make an appearance at the show.

Codenamed YU8 and YU9, the five- and seven-seat SUVs have been spotted testing in China earlier this year.

The EREV models will mark the company’s first foray into hybrid powertrains, after launching exclusively as a battery-electric manufacturer.

The company plans to launch four to six new models this year, with prices expected to range from roughly 200,000 to 550,000 yuan.