The Chinese technology group and recent electric car manufacturer Xiaomi has hired Kai Langer, former head of design at BMW i. Kai Langer worked for BMW for over 20 years and joined Xiaomi on August 1st.
Langer will remain based in Munich, where Xiaomi operates a research and development center. Langer’s exact role at Xiaomi is still unclear, but logically, he will be working for the electric car division.
20 years at BMW
“After more than two decades within the BMW Group and a lot of amazing projects and responsibilities I had the pleasure to work on, I decided to take the step to a new challenge. From the first of August, I will join one of the most progressive and uprising big tech players in the world,” Langer wrote on LinkedIn.
“From the first of August, I will join one of the most progressive and uprising big tech players in the world. XIAOMI, already established in the tech and consumer electronics market, and with a moon-rocketing debut in the automotive industry, is ramping up its business and is giving me the chance to be a strong part of it. I am very curious about the possibilities that will be given to me to continue creating a bright future… Coming soon,” he added.
Kai Langer started his career at BMW in July 2003 at BMW’s exterior design department. In 2009, he joined Design BMW i, the design group that had the mission to develop BMW’s electric image. From June 2012 up to January 2016, langer was head of Design Studio Advanced at the BMW Group. Then he became ‘Creative Director BMW’ and in July 2019, finally, he was appointed Head of BMW i Design.
So far, Langer has only listed ‘Customer / Brand / Product at Xiaomi Technology – Fulltime’ as his job title on his LinkedIn profile. Even Chinese media outlets that closely follow the company, such as the Xiaomitime portal, have no more detailed information about his role at the company other than Langer’s post.
Giving EVs their personality
Langer’s track record speaks for itself. He’s not just a designer; he’s the man who helped BMW’s i series stand out and set the tone for what a premium electric vehicle could look like. His philosophy was all about making sure you knew the car was electric… and still 100% BMW. Now, Xiaomi is betting that its expertise can give it a unique edge as it ramps up its own EV designs.
Xiaomi is leveraging its strengths in innovation and tech, as seen in its work on smartphones. Now, it’s bringing that energy into the automotive industry.
The timing here isn’t a coincidence. Xiaomi is rapidly expanding its EV division, and landing a talent like Langer shows they’re serious about competing, especially in the premium segment where design is everything. With Langer on board, they’re positioning themselves to be more than just another EV startup; they want to set trends, not follow them.
With the highly acclaimed SU7 and the SUV model YU7, which was introduced later, Xiaomi already has two electric cars on the market that are selling very well. Both models have a similar design and are recognisable as Xiaomi’s. Whether Langer will continue to develop this design language or whether the manufacturer’s future electric cars will look different remains to be seen in the coming months.
Designers come and go
The world of car design has always been volatile. Designers who seek new opportunities or are dissatisfied with their current employer seek other surroundings. The outstanding ones are often lured away with exciting promises and interesting financial conditions.
Although there’s always a sort of musical chair inside the design departments of the automotive industry, it’s the Asian companies that have been very busy recruiting personnel from competitors lately. It began with Hyundai a while ago, when Peter Schreyer, father of the iconic Audi TT, departed Audi to lead the design of Hyundai. He later attracted Belgian Luc Donckerwolke as his successor.
In recent years, it has been the turn of Chinese manufacturers to do the same. And the BMW Group has undoubtedly been in their sights. The most famous one coming from Munich was the much-acclaimed but also criticized Chris Bangle, now acting as chief designer at Xiaomi, having contributed to the development of their SU7 and YU7. No doubt that he remembered Kai Langer from his time at the head of BMW design.
Another example is Carsten Breitfeld, also a 20-year BMW veteran instrumental in, for example, developing the i8. He co-founded the Chinese-German EV startup Byton and later served as CEO of Future Mobility Corp., a Tencent-backed EV firm. Along with him, Dirk Abendroth, Benoit Jacob, and Henrik Wenders, all from BMW’s i brand leadership, joined Future Mobility Corp. as VPs in software/connectivity, design, and marketing, respectively.
Before the hiring of Kai Langer, Rudolf Dittrich, Dusan Sarac, and Jannis Hellwig, all former BMW managers but not in the design department, were recruited by Xiaomi in early 2025 to lead their new European EV R&D center in Munich, where Langer will also be stationed.
