Baidu plans to form a smart electric car company, with vehicle manufacturing to take place at plants owned by automaker Geely, Reuters said on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Some of Geely's existing car manufacturing facilities will be modified to build smart electric cars, and the vehicles will use the software provided by Baidu and Geely's engineering know-how, the report said, adding that Baidu will have a majority stake and absolute voting rights in the joint venture.

The companies are in talks to use Geely's electric vehicle-focused platform, Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA), for future product development, one of the sources said.

When contacted by cnEVpost, Baidu said NO comment.

The search engine giant rose 1.9 percent Thursday amid the report and another report that Baidu is considering a secondary listing in Hong Kong. Geely, which is listed in Hong Kong, rose as much as 20 percent Friday.

On September 23, 2020, Geely unveiled SEA Architecture, an intelligent electric vehicle solution that took four years to build with more than 18 billion yuan.

December 15, 2020 Rumors suggest that Baidu has approached Geely, GAC, and FAW Hongqi about establishing an electric vehicle joint venture, but no decision has been reached.

Geely unveils SEA architecture for EVs and new concept car with range of over 700 km