Xiaomi shares closed down 5.5% on news of a fatal car crash involving one of its “smart-driving” EVs
Shares in Xiaomi dropped on Tuesday after a statement on Weibo from the Chinese tech giant, which also makes smartphones and other consumer electronics, confirmed that the SU7 electric vehicle’s advanced driver assistance mode was enabled before a crash on Saturday night. Per local media reports, three people lost their lives.
News of the fatalities comes just one week after Xiaomi confirmed that it had raised $5.5 billion from share sales, with an eye to expand its burgeoning EV division. BYD, one of Xiaomi’s biggest rivals in the space, had raised $5.6 billion in its own bumper share offering only weeks earlier.
Though the company warns customers to remain vigilant when deploying the tech, with reminders that its “smart-driving” assistance system does not mean “self-driving,” the crash on an eastern Chinese highway is just another example to point to for skeptics of smart and autonomous vehicles. Tesla’s “full self-driving” system, for example, came under scrutiny from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in October last year after a spate of crashes — including one fatal accident involving a pedestrian — reported across its autonomous fleet.
News of the fatalities comes just one week after Xiaomi confirmed that it had raised $5.5 billion from share sales, with an eye to expand its burgeoning EV division. BYD, one of Xiaomi’s biggest rivals in the space, had raised $5.6 billion in its own bumper share offering only weeks earlier.
Though the company warns customers to remain vigilant when deploying the tech, with reminders that its “smart-driving” assistance system does not mean “self-driving,” the crash on an eastern Chinese highway is just another example to point to for skeptics of smart and autonomous vehicles. Tesla’s “full self-driving” system, for example, came under scrutiny from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in October last year after a spate of crashes — including one fatal accident involving a pedestrian — reported across its autonomous fleet.
