China's Baidu, Geely partner up for smart electric vehicles

China's search engine Baidu has announced it will partner with carmaker Geely to make smart electric vehicles (EVs).
Baidu will provide "intelligent driving capabilities," while Geely will offer design and manufacturing expertise. Report informs referring to BBC.

Geely is one of China's largest carmakers and owns Volvo and a stake in Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler. The two companies will be competing not just with Elon Musk's Tesla, but also with several Chinese competitors.

"We believe that by combining Baidu's expertise in smart transportation, connected vehicles, and autonomous driving with Geely's expertise as a leading automobile and EV manufacturer, the new partnership will pave the way for future passenger vehicles," said Robin Li, co-founder and chief executive of Baidu.

Baidu established its autonomous driving unit Apollo in 2017, which mainly supplies technology powered by artificial intelligence and works with several international and Chinese carmakers. China is the world's leading market for electric vehicles.

According to the International Energy Agency, there were 7.2 million electric cars on the road globally by 2019, with 47% of them in China.
Data provider S&P Platts estimates that "new energy vehicles" will account for 20% of total new car sales in China by 2025.

"China has become the world's largest market for EVs, and we are seeing EV consumers demanding next-generation vehicles to be more intelligent," Mr. Li said.