Daimler is driving the development of its worldwide electric car production. Together with its Chinese partner BAIC, the German carmaker is building a battery factory in China for more than 650 million euros.
Daimler CEO Zetsche (in Beijing)
Wednesday, 05.07.2017
15:34 clock
For a three-digit million amount builds Daimler a battery plant for electric cars in China. Together with its Chinese partner BAIC, the Stuttgart-based automaker intends to invest a total of around 655 million euros – in the battery plant and in the production of the cars powered by Mercedes Benz. From 2020 onwards, electric vehicles will also be produced on the premises in addition to cars with combustion engines.
The cells from which the batteries are assembled in the new factory will come from China. Daimler did not reveal from which supplier. The agreement was on Wednesday on the sidelines of the meeting of German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and China’s President Xi Jinping signed in Berlin.
The battery plant is part of a worldwide production network of Mercedes Benz, in which Daimler invests a total of around one billion euros. Of these, the Group already has 500 million euros in a second battery plant at the Saxon site in Kamenz near Dresden. Further factories are to follow. Where exactly, Daimler is still covered. Usually they are distributed to the largest passenger car markets China, North America and Europe.
Daimler estimates that in 2025 between 15 percent and 25 percent of the Mercedes-Benz vehicles sold will be electric cars. China will have a substantial share in it, so play the local production an important role, they said.
By 2022, Daimler plans to launch more than ten new electric vehicles worldwide, estimating investments of ten billion euros. Three years later, battery-powered cars should account for 15 to 25 percent of sales. China is currently the world’s fastest growing electric car market.