Failure Analysis
Jiyue died from a lethal combination of market saturation, weak brand differentiation, and the classic 'stuck in the middle' positioning that plagues joint ventures....
Jiyue \China
Jiyue was a premium electric vehicle (EV) joint venture between Chinese tech giant Baidu and automaker Geely, launched in 2021 to capitalize on China's booming smart EV market. The company aimed to build AI-native vehicles leveraging Baidu's autonomous driving stack (Apollo) and Geely's manufacturing expertise. Their flagship models—the Jiyue 01 SUV and Jiyue 07 sedan—featured advanced driver assistance, voice AI, and premium positioning targeting Tesla's market share. The timing seemed perfect: China's EV penetration was accelerating, government subsidies were flowing, and consumer appetite for smart cars was peaking. Jiyue promised a differentiated product combining software intelligence with traditional auto reliability. However, despite $800M in backing and two corporate giants behind it, the venture collapsed in early 2025 after failing to achieve sustainable unit economics in an increasingly saturated market. The company struggled with brand identity (caught between Baidu's tech image and Geely's mass-market reputation), pricing pressure from competitors like BYD and Xiaomi, and the classic innovator's dilemma of trying to out-Tesla Tesla while competing with dozens of well-funded Chinese EV startups. By 2024, monthly sales had stagnated in the low thousands despite aggressive discounting, and the parent companies decided to cut losses rather than continue subsidizing operations in a market where only the top 5-7 players could survive profitably.
Discover the reason behind the shutdown and the market before & today
Market Analysis
The global automotive industry is undergoing its largest transformation in a century, with EVs projected to represent 60%+ of new car sales by 2030....
Startup Learnings
Joint ventures in hardware are value-destroying unless there's crystal-clear strategic alignment and one parent has final decision authority. Jiyue's dual-parent structure created slow decision-making...
Market Potential
The global EV market remains enormous and growing—projected to reach $1.5T by 2030 with 40%+ penetration in China, 25%+ in Europe, and 15%+ in...
Difficulty
Building a competitive EV in 2021-2025 required mastering the hardest integration challenge in consumer hardware: battery chemistry, supply chain at scale, regulatory compliance across...
Scalability
Automotive manufacturing has brutal unit economics that get worse before they get better. Jiyue's scalability was capped by classic hardware constraints: each vehicle required...
Rebuild & monetization strategy: Resurrect the company
Execution Plan
Phase 2
Step 2 (Validation): Expand to 3-5 fleet customers (5,000 vehicles total) and add predictive maintenance (using battery/motor data to predict failures 2-4 weeks early) and driver behavior scoring (gamification to reduce energy waste). Introduce financing integration—partner with local banks to offer EV leasing through the platform, taking 2-3% transaction fees. Raise $3M seed round. Goal: $1M ARR, 90%+ NRR, case studies showing 20%+ TCO improvement. Timeline: 12 months.
Phase 3
Step 3 (Growth): Launch in 2-3 additional markets (India, Philippines, Thailand) with localized partnerships. Build marketplace features—allow fleets to buy/sell used EVs, purchase charging credits, and access insurance. Introduce dynamic pricing for SaaS based on fleet size and feature usage. Hire regional sales teams and customer success. Raise $15M Series A. Goal: $10M ARR, 10,000+ vehicles under management, expand to ride-hail and logistics beyond delivery. Timeline: 18 months.
Phase 4
Step 4 (Moat): Develop proprietary AI models for battery health prediction and charging optimization that are trained on millions of miles of fleet data—this becomes the defensible moat. Launch 'FleetOS Certified' program where EV manufacturers integrate the platform at the factory level, creating distribution leverage. Introduce data licensing—sell anonymized fleet insights to insurers, city planners, and energy companies. Expand to Latin America and Africa. Raise $50M Series B. Goal: $50M ARR, 70%+ gross margins, clear path to $200M ARR and profitability. Timeline: 24 months.
Monetization Strategy
Primary revenue: SaaS subscription at $50-200/vehicle/month based on fleet size and features (basic telematics vs. full predictive maintenance + financing). At 50,000 vehicles paying an average $100/month, that's $60M ARR. Secondary revenue: Transaction fees on financing (2-3% of vehicle value when fleets lease through the platform), charging credits (10-15% markup on wholesale electricity rates), and insurance commissions (5-10% of premiums for fleets using our risk scoring). Tertiary revenue: Data licensing to insurers ($50K-500K annual contracts), city governments (traffic/emissions planning), and energy utilities (grid load forecasting). The model is capital-efficient because we don't own vehicles or charging infrastructure—we're pure software with 70-80% gross margins. Customer acquisition cost is low ($5K-15K per fleet) because we sell through EV manufacturer partnerships and word-of-mouth in tight-knit logistics communities. Payback period is 6-12 months. Churn is low (5-10% annually) because switching costs are high once a fleet's operations depend on the platform. Path to $100M ARR: 100,000 vehicles at $80/month average + $20M in transaction/data revenue. Comparable: Samsara (fleet telematics) is worth $10B+ at 10x revenue; Motive (trucking software) raised $1B+ and is growing 50%+ YoY. FleetOS targets a larger TAM (emerging market commercial EVs) with higher margins (we add financing/charging revenue) and faster growth (EV adoption is accelerating in these markets).
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