Jiyue announced the start of pre-sales of the Jiyue 01 at a launch event that began at 3 pm yesterday at a starting price of RMB 259,900.

(Image credit: Jiyue)

Jiyue's first production model, the Jiyue 01, received 9,856 orders within six hours of the start of pre-sales, the electric vehicle (EV) brand created by Baidu in partnership with Geely Holding Group announced late last night.

Jiyue announced the start of pre-sales for the Jiyue 01 at a launch event that began at 3 pm yesterday, with a starting pre-sale price of 259,900 yuan ($35,620).

The Jiyue 01 is based on Geely's Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) architecture, and the first production cars rolled off the production line at Geely's plant in Ningbo, Zhejiang province yesterday, paving the way for its official launch in October.

The model is an all-electric mid-size SUV that measures 4,853 mm in length, 1,990 mm in width and 1,611 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 3,000 mm.

Jiyue was renamed from the brand formerly known as Jidu.

Geely and Baidu established the joint venture Jidu in March 2021, which was 55 percent owned by Baidu and 45 percent by Geely.

The company held its first Robo Day event on June 8, 2022 and unveiled Robo-01, its robot car concept.

On October 27, 2022, Jidu launched Robo-01 Lunar Edition, equipped with high-specification hardware, powerful performance and a starting price of RMB 399,800 yuan.

On August 15, Geely announced that it had joined forces with Baidu to launch a new brand, Jiyue. On the same day, the Jiyue 01 entered a filing catalog with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The operating entity of the Jiyue brand is 65 percent owned by Geely, with the remaining 35 percent owned by an affiliate of Baidu.

The arrangement appears to be in response to regulatory requirements, and Jidu's accounts on social media platforms have been changed to Jiyue.

($1 = RMB 7.2969)

Baidu and Geely's joint brand Jiyue begins pre-sales of debut model Jiyue 01