China's Xiaomi announced on February 2 that it has fined a supplier 1 million yuan (RM631,421) for disclosing early design concepts for a new automobile type.
A representative for Xiaomi said on its official Weibo page that the business had "dealt sternly" with the Beijing-based molding technology company after it publicly released pictures of a forthcoming car's front and back bumpers on January 22 in violation of a confidentiality agreement.
Reuters was unable to identify the company because Xiaomi withheld its name.
The smartphone-turned-car manufacturer threatened to punish the supplier with "economic compensation" of 1 million yuan (RM631,421).
The representative stated that the company has given the supplier orders to improve its information security controls and create strategies to modernize its confidentiality measures.
Lei Jun, the CEO of Xiaomi, also posted the letter on his personal Weibo account.
Over the Chinese New Year, pictures of Xiaomi's alleged future electric vehicle (EV) mock-ups for the front and back as much as a full view of what appeared to be a white small sedan with the license plate "MS11" circulated on social media.
The long-awaited car from Xiaomi would get its first verified photographs according to the leaks.
The leaked drawings, according to Wang Hua, general manager of Xiaomi's public relations department, were not final renderings, according to news site Sina Tech's story on Feb. 2.
Xiaomi, a hardware business best known for its smartphones, announced in March 2021 that it would enter the car industry and plan to invest US$10 billion (RM42.46 billion) in the project over a ten-year period.
Since then, the corporation has committed to building a plant in Beijing with a potential annual production capacity of 300,000 automobiles.
The business has stated that it intends to begin mass-producing its automobiles in the first half of 2024.
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