As far as partnerships go, this is not the first time Geely and Daimler are working together. Back in February 2018, Geely acquired 9.68% ownership of Daimler for about US$9 billion. At the time, there was already ‘talk’ about working together to produce electric vehicles.
A year later, Daimler’s then-chief executive Dieter Zetsche commented that the luxury car manufacturer was in discussion with Geely about extending their cooperation. Fast forward to December of that same year, Daimler Mobility AG and Geely Technology Group inaugurated the ‘StarRides‘ Premium Ride-Hailing Service in Hangzhou, China with a fleet of 100 vehicles including Mercedes-Benz S-Class, E-Class and V-Class vehicles.
In March this year, financial analysts at Norddeutsche Landesbank released a report that stated, “In view of the coronavirus crisis, but also with a view to the disruptive times, Daimler may have had time to think about a merger, especially since the valuations of companies are currently relatively low.”
The market capitalisation of Daimler is currently only around US$29 billion, which brings the group within reach of financially strong investors from China. Following that, Geely Owner Li Shufu recently assumed interest in Daimler.
This next move looks at a synergy that could benefit both automotive giants in the coming years. Geely is also the parent company to Lynk and Co., Proton, Lotus, Volvo Car Group, Polestar, Geely New Energy, Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group, London Electric Vehicle, Yuan Cheng, Qianjiang Motorcycles, flying-car company Terrafugia and mobility solutions company Caocao.
The new project with the wider Geely Holding Group is part of Mercedes-Benz’s comprehensive drivetrain strategy for the future. As part of ‘Ambition 2039’, Mercedes-Benz is consistently pushing towards ‘Electric first’ with the electrification of all model variants and vehicle types, thus making a clear commitment on its way to CO2-neutrality.
In order to meet the different market requirements and various customer needs worldwide, highly-efficient combustion engines are part of this transition. Mercedes-Benz remains committed to driving forward the transformation of drive systems even more rapidly and more efficiently while maintaining its technology leadership in the global markets.
Geely Holding is fully dedicated to offering its global users best in class products, services and experience through constant technical innovation, and resource integration. With this cooperation, both groups will combine their advantages and global resources to develop and produce highly efficient powertrain systems.
Daimler AG and Geely Holding are already working together to further develop the smart brand on a global basis and provide premium ride-hailing services in the Chinese market.
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