Jidu Auto

Last updated
Shanghai Jidu Auto Co., Ltd.
Company type Private
Industry Automotive Technology
Founded2021;3 years ago (2021)
Headquarters Shanghai, China
Key people
Joe Xia (CEO)
Gang Luo (COO)
Frank Wu (CDO)
Owner
Number of employees
Approx. 4000 (2024)
Website Official website OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Jidu Auto is a joint venture premium intelligent EV startup between Chinese tech giant Baidu and car manufacturer Geely. It is headquartered in Shanghai, China. Jidu Auto was founded in March 2021 as a technology Ai company that focus on the development of advance intelligence and autonomous electric vehicles. [1]

Contents

History

Originally founded in March 2021 with an investment of $300 million, [2] Jidu Auto completed a $400 million Series A financing in January 2022 from Baidu and Geely, [3] [4] [5]

On December 7, 2022, Jidu Auto changed its legal name to Shanghai Mihang Automobile Co., Ltd. [6]

On February 15, 2023, Jidu Auto announced that the firm would use Baidu's self-developed Ernie bot Artificial intelligence in its production cars as the first company to provide an interactive experience with artificial intelligence in production vehicles. [7] [8]

Relation with Ji Yue brand

Ji Yue (极越) brand was established in August 2023, [9] a second company between Geely and Baidu to reconstruct the partnership between the two companies. [10] [11] The Ji Yue brand is 65% owned by Geely and 35% by Baidu which makes Ji Yue brand a subsidiary under Geely Group rather than a joint venture company like Jidu. Due to the Chinese government's policies, Baidu as the controlling company of Jidu, cannot obtain the qualification to manufacture cars. The purpose of establishment of Ji Yue was to turn Geely as the controlling company to solve the restriction of car manufacture qualification. Jidu Auto now operate as a technology solution company that focus on product design, product engineering, as well as development of AI driving and advance user interface technology for all Ji Yue vehicles.

With the new Ji Yue brand, the previous Jidu Robo-01 was renamed as Ji Yue 01. The Ji Yue brand inherited the brand logo created by Jidu Auto. [12] [13]

Products

Current Ji Yue vehicles are manufactured and assembled at Hangzhou Bay in Ningbo, where Geely's headquarter and several Geely plants are located. [14]

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References

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