Caplok Deepmotion, Xiaomi Shows Seriousness In Making Autonomous Cars

Xiaomi wants to diversify by presenting electric vehicles. (photo: Gizmochina)

JAKARTA - Xiaomi seems to be increasingly showing its seriousness in having an autonomous-based electric car. The company is rumored to be soon acquiring an autonomous driving technology-based startup dubbed Deepmotion.

According to a report compiled by Gizmochina, Sunday, August 29, this acquisition deal will amount to 77.4 million US dollars or equivalent to Rp. 1.1 trillion, and will start work on the project when Xiaomi enters the electric vehicle market.

The China-based company announced the acquisition after posting better-than-expected second-quarter results. Especially in India, where its market recovery has allowed them to overtake Apple to become the world's second largest mobile phone manufacturer in terms of shipments.

“Through this acquisition, we hope to shorten the time to market our products. We want to accelerate our R&D of autonomous driving," said Xiaomi President Wang Xiang.

While Xiaomi has long been a major player in the smartphone market, the company aims to further diversify in developing countries. One of them by presenting electric vehicles.

The company's founder and CEO, Lei Jun, will later lead the electric vehicle project. Xiaomi previously announced plans to invest 10 billion US dollars or equivalent to Rp. 143 trillion over the next decade in its electric vehicle project.

Furthermore, Xiaomi will also invest heavily into the electric vehicle market through its own research, development and manufacturing to produce Xiaomi-branded electric cars.

Hence the acquisition of Deepmotion can help Xiaomi further advance to drive the company's goals. For information, Deepmotion is engaged in the development of driver assistance software and is the latest step from Xiaomi to expand its presence in the electric vehicle industry.

It is known that Xiaomi is not alone in developing electricity until it acquires a company to help it. Other Chinese companies such as Huawei and Baidu are also developing their own autonomous driving technology.