Xiaomi announced on April 17 in an internal email that Hu Zhengnan had been appointed vice president of Xiaomi and CTO of its automotive division, while Song Gang had been named vice president of the automotive division and chief of staff, sources told 36Kr. It marks the first time Xiaomi has created a CTO role for its car business since announcing the unit’s establishment in 2021.
According to 36Kr, both executives bring more than two decades of experience in the automotive sector.
Xiaomi currently has nearly 10,000 R&D employees in its automotive business. With a growing number of industry specialists joining, it is accelerating the buildout of a full-chain talent system spanning R&D, design, manufacturing, safety, and supply chain.
Hu Zhengnan’s move to Xiaomi appears to be a two-way decision shaped by years of observation and validation.
Hu entered the automotive sector in 1997 and now has nearly three decades of experience. He is widely regarded as a leading full-vehicle engineering expert from the generation that drove the rise of China’s automotive sector.
His career mirrors the evolution of China’s homegrown car brands. In 1997, he joined the Shanghai Automotive Industry Technical Center as an engineer. In 2000, he co-founded Launch Design and helped lead development of the BYD F3, a model that topped China’s A-class sedan market for multiple consecutive years and laid the foundation for BYD’s transition from batteries to full vehicle manufacturing.
He also contributed to the engineering and development of the Haval H6, which opened up China’s compact SUV market and held the domestic SUV sales lead for more than 100 cumulative months. He later led the Geely Boyue project, a model that helped solidify Geely’s position in the mainstream SUV market.
After stepping away from frontline vehicle programs in 2021 and joining Shunwei Capital, Hu broadened his perspective on global automotive technology through an investment lens.
Public information shows that Hu joined Shunwei Capital as an investment partner in 2021, while also participating in Xiaomi’s early automotive efforts as an adviser. He also appeared at the SU7 launch event, Auto China 2024, and the SU7 Ultra’s Nürburgring challenge.
Lei Jun did not immediately bring a veteran full-vehicle expert who had led multiple mass-market programs into the core management team.
This appointment reflects a milestone after nearly five years of organizational integration, with Hu, already trusted by the team, formally becoming a core executive and the chief technology leader of Xiaomi’s automotive business.
Song Gang’s career also spans two phases of China’s automotive sector.
Before joining Tesla, he built extensive experience in manufacturing and supply chain management at leading global automotive companies. Starting in 1999, he held long-term roles at SAIC General Motors and Ford, making him part of the generation of locally trained managers that emerged during the peak of China’s joint venture automotive era.
In 2018, Song joined Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory. Construction began in January 2019, and the plant achieved volume production and delivery of the Model 3 within the same year.
Song later served as senior director of manufacturing, vice president of manufacturing, and plant manager in Shanghai. He also worked in the US on factory construction and business planning, and later led the establishment of Tesla’s Megafactory in Shanghai for energy storage. In 2024, he joined Envision Energy as senior vice president of integrated supply chain, extending his experience into the broader new energy sector.
Beyond Hu and Song, Xiaomi’s automotive leadership team includes both long-serving Xiaomi executives and experienced automotive specialists.
The former includes Ye Hangjun, general manager of the autonomous driving division, who joined Xiaomi in 2012 and has served as general manager of the artificial intelligence department and chairman of the technology committee, among other roles.
The latter group spans key departments, including Chen Guang, head of end-to-end smart driving technology; Chen Long, head of the cognitive foundation model team; Wang Naiyan, head of the L3 project; and Li Tianyuan, general manager of industrial design and chief designer of Xiaomi’s automotive business.
Xiaomi’s talent strategy has also expanded globally. Since last year, it has established an automotive R&D center in Munich, Germany, which the company has confirmed. According to an earlier 36Kr report, the center is led by Rudolf Dittrich, who spent 15 years at BMW, served as head of BMW’s limited-run vehicle division, and has engineering management experience with the Williams and Sauber Formula One teams.
Among the team members, Jannis Hellwig previously led performance management and simulation for BMW’s Formula E program; Ricard Aiguabella Macau was an aerodynamics specialist for Ferrari’s Formula One team; and Dusan Sarac has an R&D background at BMW and Rolls-Royce. Public information also shows that Jean, the interior designer behind the Mercedes-Benz Vision GT, recently became head of Xiaomi’s Munich design studio.
This level of talent density is rare, even globally. Viewed more broadly, Xiaomi’s latest organizational upgrade may point to the next challenge facing China’s automotive sector.
Over the past two decades, China’s automotive sector has achieved two major transitions: from contract manufacturing to independent development, and from internal combustion engines to electrification. The next phase is whether Chinese automakers can build globally competitive electric vehicles on the foundation of a mature domestic market.
That depends on companies developing not only strong products but also industrial-grade systems required for global competition, spanning technology, manufacturing, organizational capability, and talent depth.
For consumers, these organizational and system upgrades are expected to translate into better vehicles, more reliable delivery, and stronger long-term support. For the sector, however, Xiaomi’s second chapter in automotives appears to have just begun.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Xu Caiyu for 36Kr.