(Bloomberg) -- 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 Wednesday. The venture, based in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo, has registered capital of 5.4 billion yuan ($778 million) and will be headed by Chief Executive 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 Tiny Daimler Car That Refuses to Die Heads Next to China
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Tian Ying in Beijing at ytian@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net, Ville Heiskanen, Sam Nagarajan
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