(Yicai) Aug. 15 -- Chinese auto giant Geely Holding Group has launched a high-end intelligent car brand called Ji Yue with internet giant Baidu, following up on partnership marque Jidu.

Geely, which makes Zeekr and Lynk & Co.-branded autos, and search engine operator Baidu will name the first model Ji Yue 1, the Zhejiang province-based carmaker said in a WeChat post yesterday. 

Ji Yue is the next step in Geely's collaboration with Baidu on auto robotics, The Paper reported, citing industry insiders. The essence of Jidu has been integrated with Ji Yue vehicles, and the relationship between the two is similar to that of Huawei and car manufacturer Seres that teamed up to make smart Aito vehicles, they added.

The Ji Yue 01 and Jidu Robo-01, an electric sport-utility vehicle launched earlier, resemble one another, and Ji Yue’s logo is consistent with Jidu’s original logo.

Geely will bring its Sustainable Experience Architecture platform and its research, development, and production strengths to the new brand, while Baidu will contribute its expertise in designing user experience based on a smart cockpit, intelligent driving, and Ernie Bot, a self-developed large language model.

When Jidu was registered in March 2021, Baidu had a bigger shareholding at 55 percent and its initial funding exceeded USD300 million. This time Geely is the larger shareholder as a unit of the Hangzhou-based firm has a 65 percent stake in Jiyue Automotive Technology and Baidu unit Mihang Automobile owns the rest, according to corporate information provider Tianyancha.

The new firm was set up on Aug. 9 with CNY10 million (USD1.4 million) of registered capital. The legal representative is Zhang Quan, senior vice president at Geely, and the general manager is Xia Yiping, who is also chief executive at Jidu.

Editor: Emmi Laine