(Yicai Global) April 19 -- Jidu Auto, an autonomous electric vehicle startup backed by Chinese internet giant Baidu, is absent from the ongoing Shanghai Auto Show because of it did not fit in with the automaker’s product marketing plans, a source at the company told Yicai Global.

Speculation that Jidu Auto was forced to miss the 20th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition that kicked off yesterday is wrong, the source said. Jidu Auto is preparing for a major upcoming matter and training its smart robot cars according to plan, the person added, without disclosing further details.

The Beijing-based joint venture, set up in February 2021 by Baidu and carmaker Geely Holding Group, took part in the Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition in January after unveiling its first robot car, the Robo-01 Lunar Edition, last October. Priced at CNY399,800 (USD58,130) apiece, deliveries are expected to begin later this year.

Jidu Auto’s chief executive is Xia Yiping, the former chief technology officer of Mobike, one of China's earliest and largest bike-sharing firms.

Editor: Martin Kadiev