Intelligence in Motion (IM), a premium electric vehicle brand launched by China’s biggest automaker SAIC and e-commerce giant Alibaba, has apologized repeatedly for an incorrect mention of vehicle specifications of the Xiaomi SU7 during a press event on Monday. The four-year-old EV brand was severely criticized on Chinese social media after taking aim at Xiaomi during the launch event for the IM L6, wrongfully claiming that the top-end SU7 uses cheaper IGBT transistor chips for its powertrains. In fact, the smartphone giant uses more energy-efficient silicon carbide transistors. In a statement published on the microblogging platform Weibo on Tuesday, IM said it had no intention of smearing Xiaomi maliciously, while admitting it was “incapable” of challenging the electronics brand which has created a “massive” volume of traffic for its first car. A day earlier, Xiaomi blasted at IM on Weibo, calling its comments “unreasonable, illegal, and shameful” and saying it had rejected an informal apology made by a senior IM executive. SAIC established the IM brand with Alibaba and battery maker CATL in 2020 and delivered 38,253 vehicles under the lineup last year. [TechNode reporting, IM statement, in Chinese]
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