Geely partners with Baidu to unveil auto robotics brand JI YUE - PingWest

Geely partners with Baidu to unveil auto robotics brand JI YUE

Geely partners with Baidu to unveil auto robotics brand JI YUE

August 15, 2023 8:35 am

Chinese automaker Geely Holding Group has teamed up with Baidu to unveil an automotive robotics brand called JI Yue, and released its first model.

The flagship model of the new brand, JI YUE 01, will be manufactured by Geely and is anticipated to make its debut in the final quarter of this year, as per the company's announcement.

Geely further stated that Baidu will contribute its expertise in intelligent cockpits, self-driving capabilities, and artificial intelligence technologies, all of which will be integrated into the JI YUE vehicles.

In addition to managing sales, services, and marketing for the 01 model, JI YUE is set to establish and enhance its own charging infrastructure across China. This initiative aims to cater to the growing consumer need for intelligent electric vehicles equipped with smart technology, as stated in the announcement.

From the currently available official information, it can be observed that Baidu holds a smaller stake in JI Yue compared to Jidu; JI Yue 01 and Jidu ROBO-01 share a very high degree of similarity in appearance; the General Manager of JI Yue is Xia Yiping, the CEO of Jidu Automotive, while worth mentioning is that the emblem of this vehicle is identical to the original emblem of "Jidu." Therefore, many industry insiders speculate that JI Yue will become an automotive product brand, while the former Jidu will transform into an intelligent solution, integrated into JI Yue. Some individuals have likened the relationship between Jidu, JI Yue, and Geely to that of Huawei, AITO Technologies, and Cyrus Innovation.

Baidu and Geely established Jidu in January 2021 with Baidu owning a 55% share of the company, while Geely has a 45% stake. Then, Baidu named Xia Yiping, previously led the connected unit of Fiat Chrysler in the APAC region and co-founded bike-sharing startup Mobike as CEO of Jidu.

Jidu unveiled a concept car of its AI powered robotic electric vehicle called the ROBO-01 in June, 2022.

The robot EVs, which is free of door handles and can be fully controlled via voice recognition, will be capable of achieving level 4 autonomous driving technology that need no human intervention.

The robocar features a retractable yoke steering wheel, a 3D borderless dash screen, 12 cameras and adjustable lidars. Its autonomous driving system operates with two Nvidia Orin X chips, according to Jidu.

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