Daimler AG and Chinese partner Zhejiang Geely Holding Group officially established their joint venture that will make electric Smart cars after winning the required regulatory approvals.
The entity established by the German luxury-car maker and billionaire Li Shufu‘s Geely has received all permits needed to start the business, the companies said in a statement on Jan. 8.
The venture, based in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo, has registered capital of 5.4 billion yuan (US$778 million) and will be headed by CEO Officer Tong Xiangbei.
In March, the companies had announced the move to turn Daimler’s small-car division Smart into an all-electric brand manufacturing vehicles in China. Geely has stepped up collaboration with Daimler after taking a $9 billion stake in the German carmaker in 2018 to become its biggest shareholder. The partners will each contribute 2.7 billion yuan into the new venture.
The new generation of smart vehicles will be designed by the worldwide Mercedes-Benz Design network and developed by the Geely global engineering network. Future production will be located in China.
