Baidu hires Mo-bike co-founder as Geely EV CEO

It was disclosed last Thursday that Baidu has chosen the co-founder of bike-sharing platform Mo-bike to become the new CEO of its electric vehicle company Geely, according to a source familiar with the matter.

In January, Baidu and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group entered a partnership to form an independent electric car company, with Baidu as the majority shareholder.

Although Baidu is yet to officially unveil its chosen CEO, in a Thursday morning fourth-quarter earnings call, Baidu CEO Robin Li said the company had picked a leader for the automaker without mentioning a name.

Baidu's electric car plan.

On the earnings call, Li disclosed that Baidu’s new electric vehicle company would likely launch its first vehicle by 2024. He also said a brand name has been chosen but declined to mention it.

Baidu’s venture into electric cars is a way to expand its business beyond advertising and other things it does. Electric cars are the future of the automobile industry and many automakers have gradually begun to transition to electric cars from fuel-powered cars. With Baidu’s intelligent driving capabilities and Geely’s car manufacturing expertise, the new automobile company is set to be a success.

The source familiar with the matter, who chose to remain anonymous, confirmed to CNBC that Xia Yiping, co-founder of Mobike will become the new CEO of the electric vehicle company.

Baidu declined to comment on the matter when asked by CNBC. Geely also said it wasn’t aware of the appointment of Xia as the new chief executive.

Xia formerly worked at Fiat Chrysler and Ford, before he moved on to co-found bike-sharing start-up Mobike. The bike-sharing company was said to be part of China’s boom in bike start-ups, together with then top competitor Ofo. Xia remained the chief technology officer at Mobike until the start-up was eventually acquired by Chinese food delivery company Meituan in 2018.

China’s bike-sharing market is now run by Meituan, Didi Chuxing’s Qingju, and Ant Group-backed Hellobike.

Since Reuters first reported Baidu’s plan to venture into EVs in December, the company’s U.S. listed shares have more than doubled in price.

Baidu Stock information.

Baidu is Chinese technology company that specializes in internet services, products and artificial intelligence. Baidu is publicly traded company, its stock symbol is BIDU, currently selling at $349 per share.