AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)01/11 Report--

As more and more technology companies enter the auto industry, it seems that there is a huge demand for the auto industry. Today, Baidu, which has been rumored to be building a car for a long time, officially announced the formation of a smart car company to build the next generation of smart cars. Geely holding Group will become the strategic partner of the new company.

According to reports, the newly formed Baidu Automobile Company will face the passenger car market. Baidu will enter the automobile industry as a vehicle manufacturer, allowing users to buy more extreme smart electric vehicles.

Baidu said it would operate independently of the parent company system. Geely is its partner, and future new cars will be produced at Geely's factories, meaning Baidu will have a majority stake and absolute voting rights in the new company.

Different from the traditional contract manufacturing model, Geely will provide dual support for production capacity in addition to technical support. According to Yang Xueliang, vice president of Geely Holdings Group, "it can be understood that we are manufacturing for Baidu to a certain extent, but this contract manufacturing is definitely not simply manufacturing. We have our own structure, engineering capability, testing capability and supply chain, and more importantly, production and quality control, which is a supporting concept of engineering technology." That is, the dual support of technology and production capacity.

The arrangement for the new company has not yet been announced, as the two sides are only in the process of signing a cooperation agreement.

It is worth mentioning that Geely issued a clarification announcement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange regarding the cooperation plan announced by the two sides. The board of directors took note of a number of news reports on January 8, 2021 that Zhejiang Geely Holdings Group Co., Ltd. will cooperate with Baidu to produce smart electric vehicles. The Company clarifies and states that the Company is not a party to the proposed transaction and has not cooperated with or provided financing to Geely Holdings for the purposes of the proposed transaction.

If the proposed transaction is implemented, Geely does not rule out the possibility of seeking potential cooperation opportunities with Baidu in accordance with the rules governing the listing of securities on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and taking into account the overall interests of Geely Motor and its shareholders.

On the clarification announcement, a person close to Baidu said that on the surface, the announcement seems to clarify the partnership with Baidu, but since the Baidu strategic cooperation is aimed at Geely Holdings Group, not Geely Motor. As a subsidiary of Geely Holdings, it is normal for Geely Motor to respond to inquiries from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. after all, Geely Automobile is a listed company.

In fact, plans for Baidu to enter the car manufacturing industry broke out in December last year, when Baidu already had a number of potential partners, including Geely Motor, GAC GROUP and FAW Group, to negotiate the possibility of cooperation. or form a majority-owned joint venture, but no agreement has been reached. But at that time, both Baidu and Geely said they would not comment on the rumors.

According to public reports, Baidu and Geely are not working together for the first time. In 2019, Baidu and Geely announced that they would cooperate extensively on AI technologies such as smart Internet connection, smart driving, smart home, e-commerce and so on.

It is not uncommon for Internet companies to get involved in self-driving and provide intelligent car technology solutions, including Baidu, Huawei, Google's Waymo and so on. Among them, Baidu set up its self-driving business Apollo Apollo as early as 2017 and worked with a number of domestic car companies to promote self-driving tests. With the general trend of the new four modernizations of the industry, the major automobile manufacturers and Internet giants stand in line one after another.

In this regard, he Xiaopeng, chairman of Xiaopeng Automobile, also said on social media that according to his understanding, several technology companies may become new car-building forces in different modes this year, which will have a very positive acceleration impact on the real arrival of the smart car market and the new mobile ecology.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat