Daimler and Geely in talks for building electrified Smarts in China

27 February 2019, 03:03:39

Currently, Daimler is examining possible cooperation with the Chinese automaker Geely for building all-electric successors of its Smart car. This has been reported by the German managaer magazin which has received confirmations from several people familiar with the matter. Daimler's Chinese joint venture partner Baic is also interested. "We are working on the concept for the Smart successor model and are in talks with various possible cooperation partners," said a smart spokeswoman. In the past, the company had shared much of the technology with Renault, but the collaboration is on hold. In addition, Daimler has already decided that Smart will no longer be offered with combustion engines in Europe from 2020 and will instead only use electric motors.

Rumours that Daimler plans on making electric cars in China emerged in August 2018. A month earlier, in Jun 2018, Geely announced its electric vehicle strategy that includes launching around 30 BEVs and PHEVs by 2020. Furthermore, producing Smart cars in China for the local market will greatly lower the price of the vehicle, which is currently imported to China from Europe. So talks between Daimler and Geely for cooperation seem to be credible. We only have to wait and see what the future holds.Source

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