Zhu joined Nio in 2017 as vice president of user development. He joined Ford China on June 1, 2020 and get the Mustang Mach-E launched in China.

(Zhu Jiang, former head of Ford China's Mustang Mach-E program, unveils the model on April 13.)

Zhu Jiang, who once served as vice president of Nio and head of Ford China's Mustang Mach-E program, has joined Baidu's car-making business Jidu Auto as vice president and head of user development and operations.

Local tech media 36kr.com first reported the information, saying that Zhu has appeared in Guangzhou recently in order to participate in marketing activities related to the upcoming auto show.

Sina Tech later confirmed the report, citing a source at Jidu, saying, "Zhu has indeed joined Jidu Auto, and the company has not yet made the information public."

Zhu's immediate goal after joining Jidu is to build a marketing, channel and after-sales system from scratch to accelerate Jidu's "car robot" to market, Sina Tech reported.

Zhu previously joined Nio in 2017 as vice president of user development. He left Nio in the first half of 2020 and officially joined Ford China on June 1, 2020, as chief operating officer of the electric vehicle business unit.

He led the team through the production and launch of Ford's first electric vehicle, the Mustang Mach-E, in China during his time at Ford.

But in early May, local media reported that Zhu had offered to leave and that his next stop might be Xiaomi's automotive business.

After that, there were no new reports about Zhu until today.

Jidu was officially established on March 2, with the first car expected to be unveiled at the 2022 Beijing Auto Show, when the model will be a concept production car. In an optimistic scenario, the model could be open for booking within the next year, according to information previously released by the company.

Jidu CEO Xia Yiping said during a media exchange in late April that its core team of about 100 people is already in place, with R&D staff in both Beijing and Shanghai.

Jidu plans to expand its team to 2,500-3,000 people by the end of next year, including 400-500 software engineers, Xia said.

Xia said the thing he's been thinking about most in the past three months is how to get the Jidu "ship" off the ground, with team recruitment a top priority.

Ford China's Mustang Mach-E project leader has reportedly offered to leave, may join Xiaomi