Padmasree Warrior joins US arm of Chinese electric car start-up

Padmasree Warrior, one of Silicon Valley's most prominent female executives, has signed on to run the US arm of Chinese electric car start-up NextEV, in the latest sign of the car industry's surging demand for software talent.

The former head of technology and strategy at Cisco Systems said she planned to expand a small research and development centre in Silicon Valley to 400 people by the end of next year.

Software has become a key battleground in the auto industry as carmakers race to develop autonomous vehicles, as well as more advanced information systems in cars and ways to reach customers online. NextEV, whose backers include prominent Chinese and US investment firms Hillhouse Capital and Sequoia Capital, plans to launch a high-performance "supercar" by the end of 2016.

Like electric car pioneer Tesla Motors, it aims to use technology honed in a high-end vehicle to move into the mass market.

Ms Warrior said software would play an important part in disrupting the existing auto industry. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2015