Geely Founder Takes A Step Into The Smartphone Market

Geely, or to refer to its full name, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, is primarily a carmaker. Since 2017, the company has owned basically half of local car brand Proton. But it looks like the automaker’s founder is venturing into the smartphone market as well.

Geely group chairman and founder Eric Li started the company called Hubei Xingji Shidai Technology, to that end. The phones that the company makes will be of the premium, high-end variety, according to its press release.

In a statement, Li said that “there is a close connection in technologies within intelligent vehicle cockpits and smartphone software technologies”. Which may go to explaining the reason behind the new company. The new company will also be benefiting from the tech and processes of Geely itself.

Earlier this year, Geely started another company, called Zeekr, for its electric car endeavours. At the time, reports indicated that the company was aimed at challenging the dominance of the US-based Tesla brand. Chances are Xinji Shidai has been set up to cut into the dominance of Samsung and Apple at the top end. That being said, if the company does make phones for regions outside of China, it’s difficult to imagine them not using Android as its OS.

Baidu And Geely’s Jidu Auto To Pour RM31.6 Billion Into Developing Smart Cars

Jidu Auto, the electric vehicle (EV) joint venture between Baidu and Geely, said it planned to invest 50 billion yuan (~RM31.6 billion) in making smart cars over the coming five years.

CEO Xia Yiping also told Reuters that the company’s first EV would look like a “robot” and would target young people, noting that Jidu would examine big market data before finalising the model. Previously, it was reported that the company would be working on an “intelligent” vehicle with autonomous driving technology.

“It will make you feel like it’s a robot that can communicate with you with emotions,” said Xia. As reported earlier, Jidu is looking to launch its first EV in three years, but its CEO said the company would also be trying for a shorter time frame.

According to him, the firm wants to introduce a new EV model every one or one-and-a-half years following its first launch. It also intends to bring aboard 2,500 to 3,000 new employees over two to three years, including 400 to 500 software engineers.

Tech companies inside and outside of China have been tripping over themselves to enter the booming EV market. Even Thailand is planning to sell only electric vehicles by the year 2035.

Geely Forms New Electric Car Company Called Zeekr

Chinese automaker Geely announced that it has established a new electric car company called Zeekr. Positioned towards the higher end of the EV (electric vehicle) market, Zeekr is aimed at challenging the dominance of US-based rival Tesla, Reuters said.

Geely expects the first vehicles from its subsidiary to be delivered in the third quarter of this year. Zeekr apparently wants to deliver one new electric vehicle to market every year for the coming five years. And in case you’re wondering, the Chinese name of Zeekr is Ji Ke.

The new electric car company will be a 51%-49% joint venture between Geely and its parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, with an initial investment of 2 billion yuan (~RM1.3 billion). Zeekr will focus on the Chinese market at first and then explore opportunities for exports.

It has been an extremely busy year for the automotive industry, with carmakers as well as tech giants making a mad dash for the rapidly growing EV market. Geely itself earlier formed an electric car company with the Chinese search giant Baidu. The carmaker also teamed up with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn to provide automakers with consulting services on EV technologies.

News of Zeekr’s formation comes after Geely announced its financial results for last year. Profits dropped by a hefty 32% compared to 2019 – a trend largely driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, the company may be finding that the traditional car market is slowly but surely drying up.

Baidu Has Picked CEO And Brand Name For Joint Electric Car Company With Geely

Baidu CEO Robin Li announced that the Chinese search giant had settled on a CEO and brand name for the electric car company it recently formed with Geely. He said this during Baidu’s latest earnings call but didn’t reveal the name of the CEO or the name of the new company.

However, CNBC, citing a source, claimed that the man picked for CEO is Xia Yiping, a co-founder of Mobike – a bicycle-sharing start-up. His LinkedIn profile indicated that he worked for Fiat Chrysler and Ford before co-founding Mobike which was bought over by the Chinese food delivery firm Meituan in 2018. However, Baidu declined to comment when it was contacted by CNBC.

In its electric vehicle venture with Geely, the majority shareholder is Baidu and Li has previously described the company as combining Baidu’s expertise in autonomous driving with Geely’s expertise in the automotive industry. But when the venture was announced, it wasn’t clear if self-driving cars were on its roadmap.

Li put that to rest during the aforementioned earnings call, saying that the company envisioned an “intelligent” vehicle with autonomous driving technology, the South China Morning Post reported. He said the new EV company aimed to launch its first vehicle in about three years.

The electric car initiative is part of Baidu’s big push to diversify away from its core advertising business. Baidu is already looking to enter the chip-making business through a new AI semiconductor company.

Geely Links Up With Tencent To Develop Smart Car And Driverless Tech

Automotive giant Geely has inked a deal with tech conglomerate Tencent to develop technology for smart vehicle cockpits and self-driving vehicles. This is Geely’s third partnership with a major technology firm in a mere span of a week, showing the company intends to invest and compete aggressively in future tech.

The deal will see the companies working on “next-generation intelligent vehicle cockpits”, enhancing the driver’s cockpit with “new mobile and mobility service applications.” The firms will also “explore simulated testing and validation of autonomous drive systems.” As CNBC noted, Tencent’s cloud computing division and experience in developing artificial intelligence applications might be especially handy here.

Only last week, Geely announced it was forming a new electric car company with Baidu. Days later, it said it was teaming up with Foxconn to provide contract manufacturing and electric vehicle consulting services to other automakers. Sources told Reuters that Geely wanted to make better use of the production capacity of its apparently underutilized Chinese factories.

It should be noted that Tencent has investments in Tesla, the current global leader in electric cars and Geely’s (potential) competitor given its dive into the electric vehicle industry. Relatedly, when it comes to self-driving vehicles, Microsoft also wants a piece of the action – teaming up with General Motors’ subsidiary company Cruise to help boost the commercialisation of autonomous vehicles.

Geely as a whole has been doing exceedingly well, selling over 2.1 million automotive units last year. Proton, its strategic partner here in Malaysia, sold cars like hotcakes despite the COVID-19 pandemic with 8.8% year-on-year growth and has also managed to raise its market share.

Geely Makes Push Into Electric Vehicle Market With Foxconn and Baidu

Chinese carmaker Geely, widely credited for reviving Proton’s fortunes, is making an aggressive push into the electric vehicle market, signing separate deals with Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn and Chinese search giant Baidu.

Geely’s partnership with Foxconn, well-known as a major Apple supplier, would involve them providing contract manufacturing for other carmakers. According to Reuters, the companies would each have a 50% stake in a venture that will also provide automakers with consulting services on electric vehicle (EV) technologies. News reports indicate that Apple itself is likely to launch a self-driving electric vehicle by 2024.

Earlier in the week, Geely announced that it was linking up with Baidu to design and manufacture electric vehicles. Industry observers view the partnership as an effort to challenge US carmaker Tesla’s current global dominance in the electric vehicle market.

“We believe that by combining Baidu’s expertise in smart transportation, connected vehicles and autonomous driving with Geely’s expertise as a leading automobile and EV manufacturer, the new partnership will pave the way for future passenger vehicles,” said Baidu CEO Robin Li, according to the BBC.

Bloomberg, citing a source knowledgeable on the matter, reported that Baidu would hold a majority stake in the new electric car company. Bloomberg’s source further said that the pact was aimed at pushing Apollo’s adoption in more vehicles. Apollo is Baidu’s AI-powered autonomous driving platform. However, the Bloomberg report did note that it was unclear if self-driving cars were on the partnership’s roadmap.

The reason behind Geely’s spate of deals may simply have to do with pragmatism. Sources told Reuters that Geely wants to make better use of the production capacity of its factories in China. Geely Automobile, its main listed company, can churn out over 2 million vehicles a year, but only sold about 1.32 million last year.

Geely is better known in Malaysia as national carmaker Proton’s strategic partner, having acquired a 49.9% stake in the latter in 2017. Since then, Proton sales and revenue have seen a tremendous turnaround, breaking with years of steep losses. The carmaker hit a 8-year sales high just in July last year.