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2020 is an important year for Geely, which will deepen its partnership with Daimler in addition to advancing the process of merging with Volvo. Li Shufu, chairman of Geely holding Group, said that Geely is exploring the possibility of further deepening cooperation with Daimler, parent company of Mercedes-Benz, and does not rule out the possibility that new cooperation opportunities will be created between Geely and Daimler. In addition, Li Shufu also said that a number of new products and services will be launched around the world this year, and Lectra will be introduced to the European market in 2020

In February 2018, Geely acquired a 9.69% stake in Daimler through its overseas funds, making Geely the largest single shareholder in the Daimler Group. Since Geely officially acquired Daimler as the first shareholder, the two companies have cooperated in a number of fields, and at the beginning of this year, Geely and Mercedes-Benz jointly established the smart brand global joint venture "Smart Motor Automobile Co., Ltd." to jointly operate and promote the transformation and upgrading of the smart brand. However, as Daimler's largest shareholder, Geely still hopes that the two sides can have more "in-depth cooperation" opportunities.

In recent years, Geely Automobile has made frequent actions in the fields of investment, mergers and acquisitions, cooperation and so on. In 2010, Geely bought Volvo cars for $1.8 billion, making it one of the top 500 companies in the world. In 2013, Geely bought the business and core assets of Manganese Bronze Holdings and took over the London electric car company for 11.04 million pounds. In 2017, Geely acquired 49.9 percent of DRB-HICOM 's Proton cars and 51 percent of luxury sports car brand Lutes. In 2018, Geely bought 9.69% of Daimler Group for $9 billion, making it the largest shareholder in Daimler Group. At present, Geely owns Geely, Geometry, Lecker, Proton and Lutes brands, while Volvo owns Volvo and Polar Star brands.

Data show that Geely's cumulative total sales from January to April was 311495 vehicles, which has achieved 22% of its annual sales target of 1.41 million vehicles. Of these, sales in April were 105468, up about 44 per cent from a month earlier and about 2 per cent year-on-year. The epidemic led to a serious decline in Geely's sales, and Geely's annual sales target of 1.41 million vehicles is uncertain, but Geely still insists on its sales target. Li Shufu also said that at present, China's auto market has gradually returned to the right track, and the impact on the global supply chain is only "temporary and controllable".

By contrast, Daimler is in an even more critical position. In the first quarter of 2020, Daimler achieved operating income of 37.2 billion euros, down 6.29% from the same period last year, and net profit of 168 million euros, down 92% from the same period last year. A total of 644300 cars were sold in the first quarter, down 16.7% from the same period last year. Of this total, Mercedes-Benz car sales fell 15 per cent year-on-year to 470600.

The overseas outbreak led to the suspension of production at many Daimler plants, and although many factories resumed production in May, Daimler's production is still greatly hampered by the continuing impact of the epidemic. At the same time, due to the decline in car demand, Daimler's sales are not optimistic, coupled with the "diesel valve" scandal, Daimler's performance has not been optimistic. In April, in response to the epidemic crisis, Daimler signed a 12 billion euro (92.2 billion yuan) credit line agreement with a number of banks to enhance its financial flexibility in the event of the epidemic crisis.

Although the overseas epidemic has slowed down, the impact on the automobile industry will continue, while the situation in the Chinese market has improved significantly. As far as Geely and Daimler are concerned, further deepening the cooperative relationship in the context of the current downturn in the auto market may bring more opportunities to the development of both sides and further mitigate the impact of the epidemic.

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