▲People are looking at the new Geely car model exhibited at the Shanghai Auto Show in China in April 2019. Shanghai/AP Yonhap News
Baidu, China’s largest search engine company, has officially announced plans to enter the electric vehicle market.
According to CNBC Broadcasting on the 10th (local time), Baidu announced that it plans to establish an independent electric vehicle company by establishing a strategic partnership with China’s Geely.
The company operates as an independent subsidiary, and Baidu has voting rights as the majority shareholder. It will also provide software and technology.
Geely, which will have a minority stake, will be in charge of production. Geely is the parent company of Volvo.
Baidu is already testing a robotic taxi service equipped with software for autonomous vehicles called’Apollo’ in Beijing. It also has its own map app and voice support technology called DewarOS.
Thanks to government subsidies and infrastructure construction, it has officially announced its official entry to Baidu in the rapidly growing electric vehicle market in China.
“China is the world’s largest electric vehicle market,” said Baidu Li Yanhong, CEO of Baidu.
In the Hong Kong stock market, Geely Motors shares surged 20% on the 8th when the news was first reported, and then rose by 0.45% on the same day.
Baidu’s stock price, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has also risen 15% since the news was reported.