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

  • Google in talks with world car makers on autonomous cars
    January 15, 2015
    Google has begun discussions with most of the world's top automakers and has assembled a team of traditional and non-traditional suppliers to speed up efforts to bring self-driving cars to market by 2020, a top Google executive has said. Those manufacturers are said to include General Motors, Ford Motor, Toyota, Daimler and Volkswagen. "We'd be remiss not to talk to ... the biggest auto manufacturers. They've got a lot to offer," Chris Urmson, director of Google's self-driving car project, said in an
  • European car manufacturers face world’s toughest CO2 targets
    July 12, 2012
    Following the adoption yesterday of the European Commission's proposals to reduce CO2 emissions from cars and vans, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) says it will now work with its members to conduct a full analysis of how the proposed targets should be reached as well as their feasibility, and what this means in practice for the industry as a whole.
  • BlaBlaCar intends to expand mobility service beyond carpooling
    November 20, 2018
    BlaBlaCar is hoping to expand its carpooling service by making an offer to acquire Ouibus, a subsidiary of SNCF and French bus operator. BlaBlaCar believes adding buses to its current offering will help optimise vehicle occupancy rates for buses and cars and offer a convenient door-to-door solution for travellers. Nicolas Brusson, co-founder and CEO of BlaBlaCar, says the project supports the company’s ambition to grow a broad mobility offering across Europe which combines cars and buses. Frédéri
  • Car parking and parked cars need not be a technological black hole
    March 19, 2015
    David Crawford mines the potential of joined-up parking. Drivers conventionally see parking as an isolated, often frustrating, action; but collectively their attempts to find a space impact hugely on traffic flows. But new analyses of parking events look set to deliver real benefits to motorists and cities alike. Initiatives getting under way around the world are highlighting the advantages of connecting up parking events and – eventually - parked cars. The hoped-for results include not only enhanced urban