Baidu Responds to News Regarding Holdings in JiDU
In response to the recent news regarding “Baidu wholly owns JiDU, while Geely withdraws” on Thursday, Baidu told domestic media outlet Sina Tech that it was a normal adjustment based on the business development of the company, and JiDU was still jointly owned by Baidu and Geely. The shares held by Baidu and Geely remain unchanged, and the CEO of JiDU is still Joe Xia.
According to one business search platform, JiDU has recently changed its business registration information, with Shanghai Huapu Automobile Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Geely, withdrawing from the list of shareholders while a Baidu affiliate, Dazi County Bairuixiang Venture Investment Management Limited, now occupies a 100% shareholding. In addition, the legal representative of the company was changed from Joe Xia to Liang Zhixiang, and Xia stepped down as director and general manager. This news led too speculation that Geely was out of the picture.
For now, Joe Xia still appears to be “CEO of JiDU”, at least according to his personal social media account. He has also reposted the official response issued by JiDU through his personal Weibo account.
Moreover, as per information made public by Sina Tech, “the adjustment is a change of the subject company on the Geely side, and a new Geely entity will follow, replacing the original Geely’s Shanghai Huapu as the new shareholder of the collection, which is still in its adjustment stage.”
On March 2, 2021, JiDU was established with Joe Xia as legal representative. It is jointly owned by Baidu and Geely. Both companies cooperate closely in the field of smart car manufacturing based on Geely’s pure electric architecture, the SEA Intelligent Evolutionary Experience Architecture. The venture is focused on manufacturing next-generation smart cars. In January 2022, JiDU announced the completion of a nearly $400 million Series A round of financing, with additional shares jointly held by Baidu and Geely.
SEE ALSO: JIDU Unveils First Concept Robocar
On June 8 this year, JiDU unveiled its first automotive robot concept, ROBO-01. The company plans to launch a limited version of its first production model later this fall, with the production model sharing a 90% similarity to the ROBO-01 concept model.
