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Since Geely announced a joint venture with Daimler to create a new Smart brand, many people have paid close attention to the new image of the Smart brand, and there seems to be new progress about this joint venture brand! Today, some netizens reported on the Internet that they had received a text message from "Smart" with the following contents:

"Hello, dear smart owner, thank you for your support and trust in the smart brand. Smart, a smart global joint venture formed by Mercedes-Benz and Geely Holdings, will jointly operate and promote the transformation and upgrading of the smart brand around the world. In view of this, your user and vehicle data will be migrated to "Zhi Motor Motor Co., Ltd." and hope to get your support as always. Please note that we have not changed the purpose and way of data processing, and will always attach importance to protecting your privacy and data security as well as your legitimate rights and interests. If you have any questions, you can feedback through Weibo "smart China". Smart will bring you more surprises in the near future. Please look forward to it. "

It is understood that the current Smart China's official Weibo certification company has been changed to "Zhi Motor Automobile Co., Ltd.". Data show that Zhimada Automobile Co., Ltd. was established on December 27, 2019, with a registered capital of 5.4 billion yuan. It is a company jointly funded by Geely Automobile Group Co., Ltd. and Mercedes-Benz Co., Ltd., each holding 50% of the shares. Business scope includes pure electric passenger vehicles and their parts and modules of technology development, research and development, technology licensing and transfer, technical services and consulting, wholesale and retail, import and export, after-sales service.

According to the company's plan, the new Smart pure electric model will be designed by the global design department of Mercedes-Benz, and Geely Holdings Global R & D Center will be responsible for engineering research and development and production in the new factory in China, which will be launched and sold worldwide in 2022.

There is also news about the new Smart pure electric model. Recently, Daniel Lescow, vice president of global sales of Smart, revealed on Twitter that the new Smart model will be built with the vast architecture of Geely SEA. The new Smart model, code-named HX11, is officially positioned as a small, all-electric SUV, but it is still the largest model in the history of Smart. In terms of power, the new car will be equipped with a rear motor, maximum power 200kw, or a dual-motor all-wheel drive model. In addition, Daniel Lescow also said that the new car will be launched domestically in China in 2022.

Figures show that Mercedes-Benz and smart brands sold a total of 2456343 new cars worldwide in 2019. Of these, smart brand sales of about 116800 vehicles, down 9.3% from the same period last year. In the 19 years since Daimler Group officially took control of the smart brand, the cumulative loss of about 4 billion euros has been regarded by Daimler as a negative asset, and there are even plans to stop production of all models of the smart brand.

So why does Geely accept this "hot taro"? The main reason is that the market for miniature electric vehicles continues to be hot, which is in line with the daily transportation and consumer needs of the common people. Over the past year, sales of Great Wall's Euler Black Cat, SAIC GM's Wuling MINI and Baojun E300 have continued to rise.

However, it remains to be seen whether Smart can obtain the market through "oil to electricity". After all, disadvantages such as high pricing and poor practicality have become the reasons for many consumers to give up their choices, and it is also unknown whether they can gain a foothold in market segments.

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