Vice President of Baidu-Backed JiDU Leaves Post

Izzy Zhu, Vice President of JiDU, Baidu‘s EV making arm operated with Chinese automaker Geely, left the job in mid-April, less than half a year after joining the company, Sina Tech reported on June 7.

JiDU replied to the Chinese media outlet that Zhu left the firm in mid-April for personal reasons. At that time, Shanghai was severely affected by a local outbreak of COVID-19, so Zhu’s departure seems like sudden news.

At the end of November last year, Zhu joined JiDU as its vice president, responsible for the user development and operations of JiDU. Before that, he worked at Ford Motor’s Chinese unit as COO for the company’s electric vehicle division. He was responsible for the operations and management of Ford Mustang Mach-E’s marketing, public relations, sales, services and customer experience, and reported directly to Mark Kaufman, the general manager of Ford of China Battery Electric Vehicles.

In April 2021, Zhu led the team to help Ford’s first pure electric vehicle, the Mustang Mach-E, achieve pre-sale. At that time, there were rumors that he would leave Ford, and sought more opportunities in Zeekr and Xiaomi‘s auto business. However, after announcing his resignation in May 2021, he chose JiDU.

JiDU has not yet achieved mass production. The firm will officially unveil its first concept car, the ROBO-01, at “ROBODAY,” a launch event to be held on June 8.

SEE ALSO: JiDU ROBO-01 Concept Car’s Interior Revealed, Launch on June 8