AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/28 Report--

In July last year, Great Wall BMW officially signed a joint venture "Beam Automobile" to produce MINI electric cars. Following the Great Wall MINI, the domestic electric version of Geely smart is coming!

On March 28th, Geely Daimler both announced that they would set up a joint venture to jointly operate and promote the transformation of the smart brand around the world, turning smart into a high-end electric smart car brand.

The new joint venture, headquartered in China, is expected to be set up by the end of 2019, with 50% of each holding. The pure electric smart will be designed by Mercedes-Benz's global design department, Geely Holdings Global R & D center will be responsible for engineering research and development, and will be produced in a new plant in China. It is expected to be put on the market and sold globally in 2022.

In addition to small cars, as part of the overall new model research and development plan, smart's future product lineup also plans to expand to the fast-growing compact model segment.

The board of directors of the joint venture company will be composed of six members, three from each side. Daimler's representatives will be Tang Shikai, responsible for Greater China, Ms. Besig, global sales and marketing, Marcus Schaefer, responsible for production and supply chain management, while Geely's representatives will be Li Shufu, an Conghui, president of Geely Group, and Li Donghui, executive vice president and CFO.

Global sales of Mercedes-Benz and smart brands reached 2.44 million in 2018, up 0.6% from the same period last year, of which the smart brand sold only 129000 vehicles a year, while the smart brand has been losing money since it was controlled by Daimler in 2000, with a cumulative loss of about 4 billion euros. "even Opel is profitable and we have a lot to consider," said a Daimler executive. But a decision will be made within this year.

Now, instead of being abandoned by Daimler, the smart brand has been transformed into an electric car brand with Geely. It is worth noting that according to the joint venture agreement, the global design department of Mercedes-Benz will be responsible for the design of the new generation of pure electric smart, while Geely will be responsible for R & D, manufacturing and supply chain. The commercial terms of the joint venture company have not been disclosed, but Geely's contribution is basically certain.

In July last year, Great Wall and BMW formally signed a joint venture contract, the two sides will set up a joint venture "beam car", the future beam car company will produce MINI electric cars, promote the electric brand MINI. As Daimler's small car brand, Daimler has also been planning to electrify smart domestically, but there has been no substantial progress in the "smart domestic" project cooperated by Daimler BAIC in the past two years. Now Geely has won the smart domestic project, and the Great Wall MINI electric car is about to usher in an "old rival" in China.

For Geely to join hands with Daimler, experts from the China Automobile Circulation Association said that the establishment of a joint venture between Daimler and Geely is the beginning of Geely's strategic layout. As a major shareholder of Daimler, the acquisition of smart seems to be at a loss, but actually binding Mercedes-Benz is the value of this marriage, and Mercedes-Benz is Li Shufu's dream car.

Geely officially completed its acquisition and became Daimler's largest shareholder on February 24 last year, and the two sides cooperated on high-end chauffeured car services, but as Daimler's largest single shareholder, it is clear that Geely does not satisfy the ambitious Geely. For Geely, a joint venture with Daimler to take a 50 per cent stake in smart may be just the beginning.

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