(Yicai Global) June 9 -- Jidu Auto, a joint venture of Chinese tech giant Baidu and carmaker Geely Holding Group, today revealed its first “robot” concept car.

Apart from being fully controlled with voice recognition technology, the vehicle has futuristic designs that also include a U-shaped folding steering wheel, a 3D borderless and integrated ultra-clear screen, and 3D human-machine co-driving map.

The mass-produced version will be 90 percent the same, Chief Executive Officer Xia Yiping said at a press conference yesterday. Shanghai-based Jidu Auto has already begun casting the body mold, marking the official start of preparations for mass production, he added.

Jidu’s first model will be a family car priced at the level of CNY200,000 (USD29,930), Baidu CEO Robin Li said during the internet firm’s first-quarter earnings conference call on May 26. Jidu will start taking orders from the second half of this year, he added, and plans to launch a second model by the end of 2022, with orders and deliveries to begin in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Founded in March last year and 55 percent owned by Baidu, Jidu Auto is working to develop and build smart vehicles with level four autonomous driving capability. It completed a USD400 million Series A fundraiser in January.

The carmaker’s products will be built on Geely’s pure-electric vehicle platform and Baidu’s smart vehicle technology. “We believe Jidu, equipped with our industry-leading intelligence driving capabilities, will be well-positioned in the EV market,” Li said on the call.

Editors: Liao Shumin, Futura Costaglione