AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)06/28 Report--

According to the national enterprise credit information publicity system, major industrial and commercial changes have taken place in Zhimada Automobile Co., Ltd. Geely Automobile Group Co., Ltd. and Mercedes-Benz Co., Ltd. have withdrawn from the ranks of shareholders, SMART MOBILITY PTE.LTD. And SMART MOBILITY INTERNATIONAL PTE.LTD. Become the controlling shareholder, each holding 50% of the shares.

Data show that Zhimada Automobile Co., Ltd. is a smart China joint venture company in China. The company was established on December 17, 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. It is understood that Luo Xiangbei is the general manager of the company, Li Shufu is the chairman and HUBERTUS TROSKA is the vice chairman.

In the past, smart, as a light luxury brand of Mercedes-Benz, has been committed to intensive work in the field of boutique minicars, focusing on customizable two-door or four-door minicars, which is well-known around the world. In the era of fuel cars, smart has no direct competitors with its precise positioning, but it has become a niche brand and has always been unable to develop in a larger market.

Under the background that new energy vehicles are gradually replacing fuel vehicles, Geely Automobile Group Co., Ltd. and Mercedes-Benz Co., Ltd. jointly funded the establishment of Zhi Motor Automobile Co., Ltd., which is the entity operating company of smart brand in China. With the establishment of the joint venture company, smart has also been transformed into a pure electric brand. Its products are designed by Mercedes-Benz global design department, and Geely global R & D center supports engineering research and development. The first model, smart Spirit # 1, was launched in June 2022 and is based on Geely's vast SEA architecture with a price range of 18.16 yuan to 226600 yuan, while the second model, smart Spirit # 3, went on sale in June 2023 with a price range of 20.99 yuan to 289900 yuan. According to previous reports, smart Spirit # 1 and smart Spirit # 3 are all pure electric models based on Geely's vast SEA architecture, with Mercedes-Benz design department responsible for styling and Zhejiang Haoqing Automobile, which is controlled by Geely, in charge of vehicle manufacturing.

Smart wants to reverse the decline of sales and operations through the electric path, giving up the mini-car gene in its pedigree seems to be an inevitable choice. Whether it's smart Genie # 1 or smart Genie # 3, these two models are a complete departure from the smart model as we know it. Data show that the smart brand delivered a total of 19711 vehicles in China from January to May in 2023, including 2624 in May, which is not high. No matter in the new energy small SUV track or in the high-end market of new energy, smart is facing a lot of pressure of terminal competition. If it can win the favor of young consumers in the city, smart may have a new life.

Geely Automobile Group and Mercedes-Benz have successively withdrew from the joint venture, changed into smart foreign-funded enterprises, or changed their investment strategies, but as of press time, the above companies have not yet responded to the reasons for withdrawing from the joint venture.

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