On March 2, according to the public information on Qichacha, Baidu and Geely have formed a new joint venture named Jidu Auto, which, according to an insider, means “the culmination of Baidu’s AI capabilities”. Jidu Auto Co., Ltd. has a registered capital of RMB 2 billion, with Baidu’s subsidiary Dali Ruixiang Venture Capital Management Co., Ltd. holding 55% of the shares, and Geely’s subsidiary Shanghai Maple Automobile Industry Holding Co., Ltd. holding 45%.
The business scope of Jidu Auto Co., Ltd. includes technology services, development, consulting, exchange, transfer, and promotion of electric vehicle and related parts, as well as manufacturing and sales of auto parts.
On January 11, Baidu announced the formation of an intelligent vehicle company and established a strategic partnership with Geely Holding Group. As an independent company outside of Baidu’s existing corporate framework, the new venture will remain independent. Baidu’s entry into the automotive industry as a carmaker was made possible by this partnership.
On February 21, Xia Yiping, co-founder and CTO of Mobike, was officially announced as the CEO of Jidu Auto. In response to this news, Baidu stated: “Mr. Xia Yiping is an honorable graduate and outstanding alumnus of the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering at the University of Essex in the UK. He was previously in charge of the intelligent connected vehicle business in the Asia Pacific region at Fiat Chrysler and was also the co-founder and CTO of Mobike.”
🔗Source: Qichacha, GeekPengYouShuo
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.