Mercedes-Benz and Geely to build Smart-branded electric cars in Xian

Mercedes-Benz will build Smart-branded electric cars with the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in the Chinese city of Xian, with an annual capacity of around 150,000 vehicles.

Daimler’s Executive Vice President in China Leng Yan made the comments to Reuters on the sidelines of China’s EV100 forum in Beijing recently.

Geely and Mercedes-Benz said they would each invest CNY2.7 billion (USD388.8 million) in a China-based venture to build “premium and intelligent electrified” vehicles under the Smart brand.

Geely, which holds a 9.7% stake in Daimler, based in Stuttgart, Germany, is building car manufacturing facilities in Xian, according to construction bidding documents on its website. Daimler, which partners with the BAIC Group to make luxury Mercedes-Benz cars in Beijing, also builds trucks with BAIC’s unit Beiqi Foton Motor .

Smart delivered about 116,800 vehicles worldwide in 2019, according to Daimler.