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On January 14, according to a number of media reports, Yu Liguo, former president of BAIC Jihu, became vice president of Xiaomi Automobile. According to an internal email released by Xiaomi Group, Yu Liguo was appointed vice president and political commissar of Xiaomi Automobile headquarters in Beijing. after taking office, he will be responsible for coordinating Xiaomi Automobile integrated management, special business promotion, as well as Xiaomi Automobile Beijing headquarters organization and talent construction, and report to Xiaomi Automobile CEO Lei Jun.

In fact, as early as last October, when Xiaomi Vice President Gao Ziguang left, there were media reports that "Yu Liguo has officially joined Xiaomi." However, neither the official side nor Yu Liguo himself released any exact confirmation at that time. At present, the introduction of Yu Liguo on the official website of polar fox shows "404", and when consulting the relevant information about Yu Liguo on Baidu encyclopedia, the title about Fengguo has also been changed to "vice president of Xiaomi Automobile and political commissar of Xiaomi Automobile headquarters in Beijing". As a result, the rumor that "Yu Liguo has officially joined Xiaomi" in October last year finally got a real hammer.

According to public data, Yu Fengguo, a post-80s generation, is a doctor of engineering in Beijing Institute of Technology and one of the more representative figures of BAIC. Yu Liguo became the minister of strategic planning of BAIC in 2014. he has also served as a member of BAIC New Energy Party Committee, executive deputy general manager of BAIC New Energy, chairman of Blue Valley Smart Energy Company and president of ARCFOX. Previously, he was in charge of BAIC's new energy strategic planning, fixed investment, joint venture and cooperation, with details related to medium-and long-term product planning, user experience design, digital applications and so on. When Yu Liguo became president of ARCFOX extreme Fox in 2020, he founded a new high-end brand, which is also one of its most glamorous resumes. The appointment of Xiaomi as vice president and political commissar of Xiaomi Automobile headquarters in Beijing may be related to its performance in the process of establishing the polar fox brand. including his in-depth participation in BAIC's experience and ability in the process of cooperation with Huawei and Magna, industry insiders pointed out: Xiaomi is interested in Yu Liguo's experience and contacts in the automotive industry. Especially for the experience related to the establishment and overall management of new energy vehicle brands.

It is worth mentioning that although Yu Liguo made many good achievements as president of ARCFOX's extreme Fox Division, Yu Liguo also sparked heated discussion because of his "inappropriate remarks" in less than a year.

Returning to the topic of Yu Liguo serving as vice president of Xiaomi Automobile, judging from Yu Liguo's title of "vice president of Xiaomi Automobile", Yu Liguo should be the second senior executive to be introduced by internal and external since Lei Jun opened the core members of the automobile team in September last year. Another is Li Tianyuan, designer of the BMW I brand, who joined in the same year.

On March 30, 2021, Xiaomi Group officially announced its entry into the bureau to build cars. Lei Jun, chairman of Xiaomi Group, said at the press conference that this was the last time in his life to start a business and was willing to bet all his reputation to lead the team to fight for Xiaomi cars himself.

On September 10 of the same year, a source said that Xiaomi plans to launch a new car in each of the next three years after its debut in 2024, with a total sales volume of 900000 vehicles in three years. Xiaomi Group did not make a statement until October 19. Lei Jun released news that Xiaomi's first model will be mass-produced in the first half of 2024.

It is understood that the first Xiaomi car will be priced between 10 and 300000, positioning as a middle-and high-end model. At present, Xiaomi Automobile has officially announced that it has settled in the Beijing Economic Development Zone. According to the plan, the Xiaomi car project will be divided into two phases to build a full-vehicle factory with an annual output of 300000 vehicles, of which the first and second phases have a production capacity of 150000 vehicles respectively. Yu Liguo, who now has a car background, may be able to inject fresh blood into Xiaomi car building.

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