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The smart brand has been losing money since it was controlled by Daimler in 2000, with a cumulative loss of about 4 billion euros. Smart will withdraw from the United States and Canada because of poor sales.

Daimler Group announced that the smart brand plans to withdraw from the United States and Canada by the end of this year, mainly due to a serious decline in overall sales of mini cars in these regions and a continued downturn in sales of smart models. After smart withdraws from the United States and Canada, smart owners will serve their vehicles at Mercedes-Benz dealerships.

Since 2017, smart has only supplied electric models in the North American market, of which the smart EQ fortwo has a range of only 58 miles. Its short mileage and two-seater space layout make it uncompetitive in the North American market. Figures show that only 231 smart models were sold in North America in March.

On March 28, 2019, Geely Group formally signed a contract with Daimler Group at its headquarters in Hangzhou to form a joint venture to build smart into a high-end electric smart car brand, each holding a 50 per cent stake in the smart brand.

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. But in the end, instead of being abandoned by Daimler, the smart brand was transformed into an electric car brand with Geely.

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