Industry dynamics

Baidu-backed Jiyue names 2nd model Jiyue 07, releases official images

Publishtime:1970-01-01 08:00:00 Views:30

The Jiyue 07 is another 7-series model for the Chinese EV market. Jiyue just launched its first model, the Jiyue 01, on October 27.

(Image credit: Jiyue)

Jiyue, the electric vehicle (EV) maker created by Baidu in partnership with Geely Holding Group, is starting to warm up for its second EV model, after letting its first model go on sale at the end of October.

Jiyue's second model is the Jiyue 07, the brand's first sedan, according to a Weibo post it made today.

Jiyue shared several images of the Jiyue 07, saying that the model won the German Red Dot and iF design awards.

Jiyue didn't release any more information about the Jiyue 07, but it will be another 7-series model in the Chinese EV market.

In Chinese culture, the number 9 usually represents the best of the best, and 9-series models are usually the top of the line for a brand, such as Nio's (NYSE: NIO) recently released executive sedan, the ET9.

The number 7 is used by many EV makers to name models that are positioned slightly lower than the top flagship model, such as the Nio ET7, while others use it to name their mid-to-high-end models, such as the Xpeng P7, Zeekr 007, and Xiaomi SU7.

Jiyue was renamed from the brand formerly known as Jidu. Geely and Baidu established the joint venture Jidu in March 2021, which was then 55 percent owned by Baidu and 45 percent by Geely.

On August 15, Geely announced that it was launching a new brand, Jiyue, in conjunction with Baidu. On the same day, the brand's first model, the Jiyue 01 SUV, entered a filing catalog with China's industrial regulator.

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

Jiyue officially launched the Jiyue 01 on October 27, when two versions were priced starting at RMB 249,900 ($35,000) and RMB 339,900, respectively. The first deliveries of the model began on October 29.

On November 30, Jiyue lowered the starting prices of both versions of the Jiyue 01 by RMB 30,000 and compensated customers who had already taken delivery for the price difference.

Following this price reduction, the starting prices of the two versions of the Jiyue 01 are RMB 219,900 and RMB 309,900, respectively.

The Jiyue 01's internal codename is Mars, and the brand's second car started designing in late 2021, when it was internally codenamed Venus, Jiyue CEO Joe Xia said on December 9 on Weibo.

The sedan's concept was shown at the Guangzhou auto show in 2022, and its production version largely maintains the concept's design, Xia said.

($1 = RMB 7.1462)

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