The Jiyue 07 electric liftback from the joint venture between Geely and Baidu has arrived at dealerships in China. It is the second model from the brand, aimed at improving Jiyue’s poor sales performance. The 07 liftback will make its market debut soon.
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Jiyue’s bumpy ride in China
Jiyue was founded in 2021 as Jidu, a joint venture between Baidu and Geely, with “Chinese Google” holding the largest stake. However, Jidu failed to obtain the sales license and was restructured as Jiyue. Under the new name, Geely took 65% of the JV, while Baidu held the rest. In this JV, Geely handles manufacturing, while Baidu is responsible for software.
The first Jiyue car, modestly called Jiyue 01 (see specifications), entered the domestic market in October 2023 with a starting price of 249,900 yuan (34,350 USD). Later, the price was reduced by 30,000 yuan (4,100 USD). It is an SUV based on Geely’s SEA modular architecture. The Jiyue 01 is assembled in the same factory as the Zeekr 001 liftback. However, Jiyue’s sales volume is disappointing. From January to May 2024, the Geely&Baidu JV sold only 2,239 units.
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So Jiyue seems almost a useless brand at the moment. However, it hopes to improve its sales performance by launching its second model, the Jiyue 07 liftback. It successfully obtained a sales license in May. And now a batch of Jiyue 07 has reached dealers in China.
Jiyue 07 has arrived at dealers
This week, Jiyue 07 liftbacks were spotted at dealerships across China. Thanks to the photos, we can check out the boyish color options of this vehicle. The Jiyue 07 will be available in gray, blue, black, white, and green.
The exterior of the 07 liftback remains in line with the variant shown by the government regulator. It follows the design language of the Jiyue 01 SUV. The front of the 07 adopts an LED strip that crosses the front and two Y-shaped headlights. It also has a trapezoidal air intake in the front bumper. From the side, the Jiyue 07 has a sleek profile with a sloping roof and a retractable door handle. The rear of the actual car adopts an active spoiler and a single tail lamp unit.
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Inside, the Jiyue 07 has a single screen that runs across the dashboard. This car has a joystick instead of a steering wheel. Back to the entertainment system of this electric car, it is powered by a Snapdragon 8295 chip from Qualcomm. Another feature of the Jiyue 07 is the Apollo autonomous driving system.
Jiyue 07 specifications
The Jiyue 07 has hefty dimensions of 4953/1989/1475mm with a wheelbase of 3013mm. Another feature of this liftback is a drag coefficient of 0.198Cd. This figure makes the Jiyue 07 one of the most aerodynamic mass-produced cars, along with Xpeng 03, Geely Galaxy E8, Xiaomi SU7 and Zeekr 007. It is worth noting that Jiyue 07 received the 2023 iF Design Award and was the Red Dot 2023 car design winner.
The Jiyue 07 is based on Geely’s SEA platform. The same architecture and its offshoots underpin every Zeekr-branded car, Smart #1, Smart #3, LEVC L380 minivan, Radar RD6 pickup truck, Geely Galaxy E8, Jiyue 01, etc. Back to the 07 liftback, it offers three powertrain variants:
- RWD, 200 kW (268 hp), 71.4 kWh LFP battery, 660 km CLTC range
- RWD, 200 kW (268 hp), 100 kWh ternary NMC battery, 880 km CLTC range
- 4WD, 400 kW (536 hp), 100 kWh ternary NMC battery, 770 km CLTC range
The Jiyue 07 is already in dealerships. That means that sales will start soon. The starting price of this liftback is expected to be around 200,000 yuan (27,500 USD). That is a competitive price. However, Jiyue is a little-known brand in China. As a result, the Jiyue 07 has many competitors with higher credibility among Chinese buyers. That means that the sales volume of this liftback will not be high.
Source: WeChat