Baidu hires CEO for its electric car firm with Geely

GUANGZHOU, China — Baidu has tapped the co-founder of bike-sharing start-up Mobike to be the chief executive of its electric car venture with Chinese automaker Geely, a source with knowledge of the matter told CNBC.

Last month, Baidu and Geely formed a strategic partnership to create a standalone electric car company. Baidu is the majority shareholder.

On the search giant’s fourth quarter earnings call on Thursday morning in Asia, CEO Robin Li said the electric vehicle company had picked a leader for the venture without disclosing a name.

But CNBC has confirmed Xia Yiping,…