The small-car Smart brand will in future be manufactured in China and there from the tape roll. Daimler founded a joint venture with the Chinese car manufacturer Geely. The is already a major shareholder in Daimler on Board.
With just ten percent of the Geely involved in the Stuttgart-based car group. And the agreement for the production had been planned for a long, already on Wednesday it was from the media side, the Deal was straight “to the target”.
Now he is, according to the parties Involved in dry towels: Daimler wants to strategically apparently hitting two birds with one stone: on The one hand, the production of the last is not very strong sales in Smart, one day, to be held entirely in China. And with the focus on the Smart electric car to the local huge market for E-cars can be reached directly.
for More course information to Daimler.
Smart full under power
And so the agreement in Detail: The two companies announced on Thursday, to start by the end of this year, a Joint Venture with a 50:50 participation of both sides. Starting in 2022, this joint venture will bring a new fully electric Smart models on the market. The Design to come from Mercedes, the development of Geely.
The Smart-production in France and Slovenia runs with the end of the current generation model in the year 2022. It is produced exclusively in China in a new factory. As a result, the battery-powered city car can be built cheaper, especially since Geely, the leading E-car manufacturer in China.
sales numbers tingly
in 1998, introduced Smart in Germany was the first production model of an electric car that was mostly built but also with petrol engines. The small is a dwarf not only their Format, but it also remained in the paragraph. In the past year, nearly 129.000 copies rolled to the customer, about four and a half percent less than the year before.
Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche sees in the brand, which is planned to be from 2020 only electric car, nevertheless, great potential. With Geely Smart to produce new growth. “For it is not only in the middle Kingdom we see for our smallest vehicle is still huge opportunities.” The Smart employees should keep their Jobs and, in the future, in Joint-Venture or elsewhere in the Daimler works. The Smart plant in Hambach, France, will be converted to the production of models of the new Daimler-electric car brand, EQ.
More course was in the car about Geely
far-sighted
Geely owner Li Shufu in the past year, surprisingly, as a major shareholder, with nearly ten percent of Daimler. The businessman had stressed, to work together with the Stuttgart-based premium car manufacturer closely to him but not to talk. An offer for a ride-sharing service in China was the first joint project.
The Daimler share price has developed in the past three months, significantly upwards. Diesel scandal and fears of an economic slowdown have brought the title, but in view of twelve months is still a decline in the share Price 22 percent. The Dax has lost in the same period, only five per cent.
source: boerse.ard.de