Meizu Will Release Its First Car Later This Year, Confirmed by COO
The Xiaomi car has changed everything; it has shown that a technology brand can enter the automotive sector from scratch and compete against the best likes of Tesla and Porsche. Unsurprisingly, the Xiaomi SU7 will have successors and inspire other companies to follow the same path.
Earlier this year, Meizu announced that it was going to stop selling smartphones, turning into an AI and electric car company and today, the COO of the company Liao Quinghong confirmed that the company's first car will be unveiled later this year.
The announcement was made at ChinaJoy 2024 and marks a decisive step for a company that was already toying with the possibility of launching a car under its brand. Last January, Meizu opened the DreamCar MX community, designed so that fans of the brand could share ideas and participate in the design of a future car. Among the ideas shared are color coordination, and a theme for the touchscreen system similar to that of mobile phones.
In this way, Meizu wants to make a name for itself in the market, meeting the needs of its users in different scenarios of daily life and giving priority to the users of its products. In fact, buyers of the brand's latest model, the Meizu 21, are entitled to a discount equivalent to the price of the mobile if they decide to buy the car when it is available.
Although details of the car are still scarce, the executive has stated that Meizu’s car “will have a different functional performance” from a traditional brand; in other words, Meizu’s car is very likely to rely more on technology, touch screens, and especially AI-based functions to take advantage of the brand’s commitment to this technology.
So, it's a very similar strategy to Xiaomi's, with one big difference: Meizu will have an easier time manufacturing its electric car. That's because the brand belongs to the Geely Group, one of the largest car manufacturers in China (and therefore, in the world); it has already been confirmed that the vehicle will be produced by Geely and that the design has already been finalized.
It's not clear whether that means the Meizu car will be a modified version of an existing car from another Geely brand; it may at least be based on the same platform to save costs and focus on the car's unique aspects.
According to some images leaked on Chinese networks, the Meizu DreamCar MX could be a version of a car from Polestar, a brand also belonging to Geely. Last April, Polestar presented its own Android phone, which was nothing more than a modified Meizu 21, so it would be appropriate for the same to happen but in reverse.
