Baidu and Geely presented a joint project: an electric SUV with AI autopilot JiYue 01

Luo Gang, CEO of Baidu and Geely’s automotive joint venture, Hangzhou Jiyue Automotive Technology, acknowledges the challenge of competition for those “new to the game”: “We are confident in our product, but we still lack the brand recognition to obtain a significant market share.” (quote from Gizmochina).

Geely owns 65% of car assembly specialist Jiyue Automotive, while Baidu owns the remaining 35%. They even have plans to create an exclusive network of JiYue shippers. But the main thing is that they intend to produce smart electric SUVs.

The new model is equipped with Level 4 (L4) autonomous driving technology, a world first for passenger cars. This could be a key benefit for development.

But with more than 200 players in the global market for intelligent autonomous driving systems, including tech giants Huawei and Xiaomi, it won’t be easy to take the lead. Furthermore, JiYue 01 does not yet have such high-precision mapping that provides location accuracy with an error of no more than 20 cm.

However, the price compares favorably with the Tesla Model Y: 249-339 thousand yuan (34-46 thousand dollars) versus 263-363 thousand yuan (36-50 thousand dollars). Therefore, JiYue 01 may be tentatively entering the market as a newcomer, but it should definitely not be overlooked. Baidu and Geely seem to be saying, “Tesla, you’re great, but we also have something amazing up our sleeve.”