Skip to main content

Daimler and Geely to develop Smart’s electric cars

Daimler, owner of Mercedes-Benz, has partnered with Chinese automotive group Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to develop Smart’s electric cars. Smart makes small vehicles designed for urban driving and the new joint venture will assemble the next generation of Smart products at a factory in China. International sales are due to begin in 2022. Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the Daimler board, says: “Separately, Mercedes-Benz will produce a compact electric vehicle [EV] at the Hambach plant, sustaining employ
April 9, 2019 Read time: 1 min

2069 Daimler, owner of 1685 Mercedes-Benz, has partnered with Chinese automotive group Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to develop Smart’s electric cars.

Smart makes small vehicles designed for urban driving and the new joint venture will assemble the next generation of Smart products at a factory in China. International sales are due to begin in 2022.  

Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the Daimler board, says: “Separately, Mercedes-Benz will produce a compact electric vehicle [EV] at the Hambach plant, sustaining employment with further investment in the facility.”

Mercedes is investing €500 million at the French location, where the compact EV will be produced under the EQ brand.

In the run-up to 2022, Daimler will continue producing vehicles such as the Smart EQ Fortwo at the Hambach plant, as well as using its Novo Metso facility in Slovenia to produce the smart EQ Forfour.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Drivers ‘could make £500 a month’ via peer-to-peer car rental, says Turo
    November 12, 2018
    UK drivers could earn £500 a month by making their idle vehicle available to renters on Turo’s peer-to-peer car-sharing service, the company says. Turo carried out a poll of 2,000 UK motorists which revealed the average Brit spends under nine hours a week behind the wheel. UK drivers also leave their car unused for three days each week, the company adds. Xavier Collins, Turo’s UK director, says many drivers spend a small fortune on cars but never realise their full potential. “For the vast majority of
  • Tonnjes Card to develop vehicle identification number plates in Senegal
    February 26, 2019
    Tonnjes Card is to build a production plant for vehicle number plates to help authorities in Senegal identify drivers. The €1 million plant will be in the West African country’s capital, Dakar. Tonnjes will work under the name of Afriplaque to produce and supply blank plates in the local area. Once finished, the number plates will be issued by 20 licensed printing shops. Tonnjes says its reflective security number plates contain a machine-readable code to make the supply chain traceable and to help remov
  • Research ranks Bosch, Harman, and Continental as leading Tier One connected car vendors
    September 8, 2016
    ABI Research ranks Bosch as the leader among 20 Tier One connected car suppliers considered in its latest competitive analysis. Harman and Continental received second and third place, respectively. Bosch's explosive sales growth last year, significant capital expenditures to fund future development, cadre of strategic partnerships, and commitment to advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) solutions place it in a strong position to pioneer the continuing evolution of the automotive industry.
  • The sunshine subsidy for Colorado’s tollways
    January 10, 2014
    David Crawford reports on energy cost cutting on US highways. Just over a year after switch-on and with two global awards under its belt, the longest solar-powered toll road in the US is generating heightened interest in highway applications of alternative energy. The E-407, which loops around the eastern perimeter of the Denver metropolitan area in Colorado, won the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) President’s Overall Award for Excellence at its September 2013 Annual Meeting in