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In July 2019, BAIC officially announced that it had completed the acquisition of 5% of Daimler's shares, making it the third largest shareholder in Daimler, second only to major shareholder Geely Group 9.7% and Kuwait sovereign fund 6.8%. BAIC has launched a plan to increase its stake in Daimler to about 10%, surpassing Geely's stake, Reuters reported today.

BAIC, a Daimler joint venture partner, has launched a plan to double its stake in Daimler to about 10 per cent, winning a seat on the board of directors of the German luxury carmaker to replace rival Geely as Daimler's largest single shareholder, Reuters reported, citing sources.

BAIC has begun to buy shares in Daimler on the open market, and HSBC is helping BAIC to make new investments, the report said. In response to the news, Tang Shikai, chief executive of Daimler China, said, "We welcome long-term investors."

Some analysts believe that BAIC strongly surpasses Geely's shareholding to lock it into Daimler's most senior partner in the Chinese market.

According to sources, once BAIC completes the acquisition, about 10% of the shares will surpass Geely to become Daimler's largest shareholder, while Geely will be the second shareholder. As a result, Daimler has also become a German luxury carmaker with Chinese capital power.

After Geely became a major shareholder in Daimler, in March 2019, the two sides announced a joint venture in China, each with a 50% stake, to jointly operate and promote the transformation of the Smart brand around the world, turning smart into an electric smart car brand, which will be produced in a new factory in China and is expected to be put on the market and sold globally in 2022.

In July this year, BAIC successfully bought a stake in Daimler and held a 5% stake in Daimler. At that time, Xu Heyi, chairman of BAIC, said: "BAIC and Daimler adhere to the principles of mutual trust and reciprocity and have a history of cooperation for more than 10 years. Outstanding performance. It has always been BAIC's wish to deepen the partnership through investment in Daimler. Investing in Daimler will enhance the synergy and support of our management and corporate strategy with Daimler. The partnership between BAIC and Daimler is an excellent example of Sino-German cooperation, as well as a model of cooperation between companies of the two countries. We look forward to working with Daimler to continue the success of our long-standing cooperation. "

BAIC and Daimler have a cooperative relationship for more than a decade, and the two sides also have a cross-shareholding model. Since 2005, BAIC and Daimler have established a joint venture "Beijing Mercedes-Benz", in which BAIC has a 51% stake in the joint venture. In 2012, BAIC Foton, which is controlled by BAIC, formed a joint venture with Daimler to produce medium and heavy trucks. In March 2016, BAIC acquired 35% of Fujian Mercedes-Benz, completing the "unification" of the Mercedes-Benz brand in China. In 2013, Daimler bought Beijing Automobile, a Hong Kong-listed company owned by BAIC, and has since become a member of Beijing Automobile's board of directors, with a current stake of 9.55%. In 2018, Beijing Mercedes-Benz acquired a BAIC factory in Shunyi, Beijing. In addition, Daimler has a 3.01% stake in BAIC New Energy.

Daimler AG (Daimler AG), headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, is the world's largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, the world's largest luxury car manufacturer and the second largest truck manufacturer. The company includes four major business units: Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz light commercial vehicles, Daimler trucks and Daimler Financial Services.

According to the third-quarter results report of Beijing Automobile in 2019, the total revenue in the first three quarters was 138.03 billion yuan, an increase of 14.8% over the same period last year. The net profit attributed to the owner of the parent company was 3.004 billion yuan, down 21.1% from the same period last year. Among them, Beijing Mercedes-Benz sold 425400 vehicles in the first three quarters, an increase of 17.4% over the same period last year. It is worth noting that Beijing Mercedes-Benz contributed nearly 90% of its revenue to Beijing Automobile in 2018 and the first half of 2019, which can be called the performance cow of Beijing Automobile.

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