After announcing the launch of new cars in collaboration with GAC Group and CATL during the “Double 11” period, JD Auto revealed two more important partnerships.
On October 15th, JD Group signed strategic cooperation agreements with CATL and Changan Automobile respectively.

A reporter from National Business Daily noticed that in the cooperation with CATL, the two parties will focus on expanding the new energy vehicle energy replenishment ecosystem, jointly building a battery aftermarket channel network, and jointly promoting full – channel services in the battery consumer market. At the same time, they will carry out battery aftermarket business cooperation relying on JD Auto’s national service network.
In addition, JD will also establish an official direct – sales channel for CATL’s chocolate battery swapping, and jointly promote the vehicle – battery separation vehicle usage model and the sales of vehicles with chocolate battery swapping.
In the cooperation with Changan Automobile, the two parties will focus on promoting the full – channel marketing of Changan’s passenger cars, motorcycles, vehicle ecosystem products, and maintenance parts, and assist Changan in building a complete offline service network.
What also sparked market discussions is that on October 16th, multiple job openings related to the automotive industry posted by JD on recruitment platforms were exposed. Among them, the annual salaries of the algorithm position in the automotive retail division and the procurement and sales director in the automotive industry both exceed one million yuan.
It is worth mentioning that JD started to layout its whole – vehicle business in 2018. In 2024, JD Auto announced an intensified layout in the whole – vehicle purchase business, including online and offline vehicle sales, and focusing on the new energy vehicle aftermarket business to increase the number of cooperating car manufacturers and suppliers.
Through frequent cooperation with CATL and leading car manufacturers, the “one – stop automotive consumption model” envisioned by JD in cooperation with multiple parties is beginning to take shape.
On October 14th, JD announced that it will jointly launch a new car with Times New Energy Service (a subsidiary of CATL) and GAC Group, and create a new one – stop automotive consumption model. According to the plan, the new car will start test – drive activities for the internal test version and the public version in late October, and will be officially launched on November 9th and exclusively sold on JD.

A staff member of CATL told a reporter from National Business Daily that the car jointly launched by the three parties is a battery – swapping model. Subsequently, there were reports that based on the disclosed positioning and vehicle configuration of this new car, its estimated price is between 100,000 and 120,000 yuan. In terms of the vehicle model, it is expected to adopt the “chocolate battery – swapping” model, presumably a battery – swapping model of GAC Aion.
The reporter noticed that in April this year, CATL signed a cooperation agreement with GAC Group. According to the agreement, GAC Group’s AION UT, AION RT, the second – generation AION V, and an upcoming A – class SUV will all launch chocolate battery – swapping models. In August this year, Times New Energy Service and GAC Aion completed the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement, and the first batch of vehicles was officially delivered. The two parties officially signed a strategic cooperation agreement for the first batch of 3,000 “Aion S Xuan” chocolate battery – swapping versions, and simultaneously completed the key handover of 500 new cars.
JD said that the two parties will carry out battery aftermarket business cooperation relying on JD Auto’s national service network. In addition, they will also establish an official direct – sales channel for CATL’s chocolate battery swapping, and jointly promote the vehicle – battery separation vehicle usage model and the sales of vehicles with chocolate battery swapping.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to GAC Group, CATL also announced the joint release of multiple new chocolate battery – swapping models with FAW, Changan, BAIC, and Chery. A total of 10 new battery – swapping models will be released by the five major car manufacturers, covering diverse scenarios such as administrative and business travel, family trips, and youthful commuting.
Among them, Changan Automobile launched the Qiyuan A05, a commuter car priced under 100,000 yuan, the Qiyuan A07, a mid – to large – sized intelligent sedan, and the Deepal SL03, a sports coupe.
According to the cooperation between JD and Changan, the two parties will promote the full – channel marketing of Changan’s passenger cars, motorcycles, vehicle ecosystem products, and maintenance parts, help Changan’s digital transformation in marketing management, and assist Changan in building a complete offline service network.
In fact, this is not the first cooperation between JD and Changan. In June this year, JD’s intelligent customer service, in collaboration with Changan Automobile, officially launched the AI intelligent customer service “Smart Xiao’an”. Based on this solution, brands under Changan, such as Qiyuan, Kaicheng, Yinli, Avita, and Deepal, have gradually launched their own brand – specific intelligent customer services.
On October 14th, Avita Technology signed a cooperation agreement with JD Retail. The two parties will carry out comprehensive cooperation in areas such as full – channel automotive marketing, after – sales service, procurement supply chain, and overseas business. For example, in terms of full – channel marketing, the two parties will integrate resources such as the online brand official flagship store and JD Mall to promote the full – channel promotion and sales of vehicles, peripheral products, and maintenance parts, and help the brand increase its popularity and user conversion.
After multiple cooperations, the cooperation area between JD and Changan has expanded from after – sales service to full – channel marketing. Regarding the more specific direction of this cooperation between JD and Changan, a relevant person in charge of Changan told a reporter from National Business Daily: “It is mainly cooperation in logistics.”
Since being upgraded to an independent central enterprise, Changan has increased the frequency of cross – border cooperation. Before JD, Changan signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Haier Group. The two parties will accelerate the implementation of comprehensive and in – depth strategic cooperation in multiple fields such as new energy, supply chain, health, and global brand building.
Zhu Huarong, the Party secretary and chairman of Changan, once said in an interview with reporters: “Since Changan was established, many enterprises have wanted to cooperate with us in resource integration, globalization, and other aspects.”
Behind multiple cross – border cooperations, traditional car manufacturers are no longer simply manufacturing transportation tools, but are accelerating the transformation into a platform – based industry of “travel products + travel services + ecological services”. Zhu Huarong also believes that in the future, cars will be evolvable intelligent car robots. His judgment also reveals the core logic of the transformation of the automotive industry – hardware is just an entry point, and the ecosystem is the future.
JD started to layout its whole – vehicle business in 2018. In 2022, “Jingchehui” was upgraded to “JD Auto”. In 2023, JD Retail integrated the businesses and teams of whole – vehicle, auto parts, two – wheeled vehicles, and full – channel auto maintenance, and established a new automotive division.
In 2024, JD Auto began to cooperate frequently with car manufacturers. In January, it launched the “Lan Jing Plan” with Lantu Automobile to build an all – online user experience sales platform. In March, JD Group joined hands with BYD in areas such as full – channel marketing and after – sales service systems for passenger cars, and full – scenario cooperation for commercial vehicles.
At that time, a reporter from National Business Daily exclusively learned that the three major business segments of JD Auto will be comprehensively upgraded. First, intensify the layout of the whole – vehicle purchase business, including online and offline vehicle sales; second, increase the sales of auto parts and other auto products; third, strengthen auto maintenance, that is, the auto aftermarket business.
At that time, JD Auto also told reporters that it will focus on the new energy vehicle aftermarket business, including car repair, maintenance, car washing and beauty services, and at the same time add and upgrade services related to battery repair and maintenance.
As an offline supporting layout, JD has also opened JD Auto new energy experience centers in Shenyang, Shijiazhuang, Dongguan, Wuhan, Ningbo, Tianjin and other places, mainly providing services such as car display, test – drive, and retail.
In addition, Tianyancha shows that Beijing Jingdong Sanbai Liushidu E – Commerce Co., Ltd. has also applied for multiple trademarks such as “JD Auto” and “Joyrobotaxi”, covering core fields such as transportation tools, scientific instruments, and advertising sales.
All these were once regarded by the outside world as preparations for JD to fully enter the automotive market. However, regarding the new car jointly launched with GAC and CATL recently, a person close to JD told reporters: “JD mainly provides user consumption insights and exclusive sales, and is not directly involved in the manufacturing process.”
From the perspective of the cooperation model, JD is responsible for user insights, resources in car buying and maintenance, GAC provides the vehicle manufacturing capabilities, and CATL contributes battery technology and the battery – swapping ecosystem. Finally, they integrate these resources to create a one – stop automotive consumption model.
Overall, JD’s layout in the automotive business still revolves around JD Auto’s offline layout in the auto aftermarket, such as JD Auto stores, and online channels such as JD’s main e – commerce website, to extend more automotive business.
In addition, the reporter learned from Maimai that currently, most of the automotive – related job openings posted by JD on Maimai are various procurement and sales positions, marketing managers, store investment promotion positions, industry sales positions, and algorithm positions in the retail division.
Among them, the annual salary of the algorithm position in the automotive retail division can reach 1.23 million yuan (35k – 65k × 19 salaries), the annual salary of the commodity director position in the auto aftermarket can reach 1.14 million yuan (30k – 60k × 19 salaries), and the annual salary of the procurement and sales director in the automotive industry can reach 1.12 million yuan (45k – 70k × 16 salaries). Judging from the job requirements, candidates with automotive industry work experience are preferred for the “marketing manager” position; the “procurement and sales director in the automotive industry” needs to have 5 – 10 years of relevant experience and be familiar with the auto parts procurement process and supply chain management.

Previously, JD had carried out in – depth cooperation with leading car manufacturers such as BYD, Dongfeng, and FAW. It is not difficult to see that as its business scale expands, JD is intensifying the recruitment of talents in areas such as algorithms, marketing, procurement and sales, and supply chain management.
As of the time of publication on October 16th, the stock price of JD Group (9618.HK) fell 0.54%, the stock price of CATL (300750.SZ) in A – shares fell 0.22%, the stock price of CATL (3750.HK) in H – shares fell 1.85%, and the stock price of Changan Automobile (000625.SZ) rose 3.82%.

(Disclaimer: The content and data in this article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Investors shall bear the risks on their own if they operate based on this information.)
Source of the cover image: Screenshot
This article is from the WeChat official account “National Business Daily”, author: Wang Yubiao  Duan Siyao, published by 36Kr with authorization.
该文观点仅代表作者本人，36氪平台仅提供信息存储空间服务。
36kr Europe (eu.36kr.com) delivers global business and markets news, data, analysis, and video to the world, dedicated to building value and providing business service for companies’ global expansion.
© 2024 36kr.com. All rights reserved.

source