Report: Former Tesla 'Ace Plant Manager' Song Gang to Join Xiaomi Auto (小米汽车)

Key development

It has been reported that Song Gang (宋钢), the engineer credited with helping lead construction and capacity ramp-up at Tesla (特斯拉)’s Shanghai Gigafactory, will join Xiaomi Auto (小米汽车), according to IT之家 citing a BlueWhale Tech reporter. The report says Song may take a plant leadership role, reportedly partnering with current plant head Ji Guowei (季国伟). Xiaomi has not responded to requests for confirmation as of publication.

Background

Song’s résumé includes stints at General Motors and Ford before he joined Tesla in 2018 as vice president of manufacturing for the Shanghai plant — a role widely viewed inside the industry as central to turning the factory into a high-volume export hub. It has been reported that Song submitted his resignation from Tesla in December 2024; later that month, Envision Energy (远景能源) publicly said he had joined its supply-chain ranks, a claim that created ambiguity about his next move. Those earlier reports and the new IT之家 item have not been reconciled by the parties involved.

Why it matters

Why would Xiaomi want him? Simple: manufacturing know‑how is the bottleneck in China’s heated EV race. Xiaomi, the consumer-electronics giant that launched an ambitious EV arm and pledged multi-billion-dollar investment to scale production, still needs seasoned factory chiefs to translate design into steady output. In a broader geopolitical context—where technology transfer, export controls and supply‑chain resilience shape policy between the U.S. and China—senior personnel with experience running complex, export-oriented automotive plants are strategically valuable, even if such moves are personnel shifts rather than hardware transfers.

It remains to be seen which report will be borne out. For now, the industry will watch whether Xiaomi secures another high-profile manufacturing executive as it moves from prototype to volume production.