BEIJING, March 21 (Reuters) - China's Xiaomi ( XIACF )

has hired at least five senior executives from firms including

Germany's BMW, LinkedIn posts showed, as it advances plans to

build an electric vehicle research and development centre in

Europe.

The world's third largest smartphone maker began

manufacturing EVs last year with the launch of the SU7 sedan

after selling phones, household appliances and smart gadgets for

most of its 15-year history.

It has since become one of the biggest disrupters in the

Chinese auto market, outselling Tesla's Model 3 since

December, with company president Lu Weibing saying this week

that it will begin selling its cars abroad in 2027.

Xiaomi ( XIACF ) hired Rudolf Dittrich, a 15-year BMW veteran, last

year to head the planned research centre, according to his

LinkedIn profile.

Other new hires include Dusan Sarac, a former manager at BMW

Group, who said on his LinkedIn profile that he had

joined the European research centre this month. Jannis Hellwig

also joined Xiaomi ( XIACF ) from BMW and will serve as a senior engineer

on performance development and integration.

BMW spokespeople did not immediately respond to Reuters'

requests for comment.

Xiaomi ( XIACF ) is also hiring for several other positions to be

based in Munich, Germany, including senior automotive designer,

senior automotive exterior designer and vehicle dynamics

engineers, according to LinkedIn jobs page.

The company told Reuters on Friday that its EV research and

development centre in Europe is "in the process of planning." It

gave no details on the facility's planned location, when it will

open or the size of Xiaomi's ( XIACF ) investment.

Company president Lu did not elaborate on which markets it

plans to target when it launches sales outside China.