Baidu’s electric vehicle venture with Chinese automaker Geely, Jidu Auto, plans to invest CNY 50 billion (USD 7.70 billion) into making smart cars over the coming five years, Jidu CEO Xia Yiping told Reuters. Baidu owns 55 percent of Jidu, with Geely holding the remaining 45 percent. The joint venture is thinking of using the Baidu-designed Kunlun chip in its upcoming car models.
The plan is for Jidu to introduce its first electric vehicle (EV) in three years, if not sooner, and to then release a new model every year or year-and-a-half. The CEO said the first model will probably look like a sort of robot, and target young customers. "It will make you feel like it's a robot that can communicate with you with emotions," Xia said. The company is planning to hire up to 3,000 people over the coming few years, including 400-500 software engineers.
Jidu, based in Shanghai and Beijing, also plans to roll out its branding in the third quarter, Xia said. It will initially sell its cars directly to customers.
Baidu has over the years developed a range of smart car technologies including autonomous driving technologies, a high-definition map and associated cloud services. It first established its autonomous driving unit Apollo in 2017. Jidu was set up in January.
