Beijing (ZXZC)- JIDU will start taking orders for the ROBO 01 automotive robot in the second half of 2022, Baidu’s CEO Robin Li disclosed in the Q&A session at Baidu's Q1 financial statement briefing. 

Photo credit: JIDU

The CEO further disclosed that JIDU is positioned to target the family-friendly passenger vehicle market, with an estimated price of around RMB200,000 ($29,700). Aside from the ROBO 01, which will make its debut on June 8th at the brand’s ROBODAY event, the design and research of the second JIDU model are also underway.

JIDU plans to launch its second model at the end of this year and begin to receive orders in 2023, Robin Li added. The second model is scheduled for delivery in 2024. 

Robin Li values the company’s auto business quite extensively.  According to sources close to the matter, the CEO has put the targeted annual order volume number down in his OKR. There is also a designated strategy team inside Baidu that serves JIDU exclusively. Some of the technological solutions related to JIDU’s mass production will remain private to Baidu and unobtainable to the industry for at least a year.