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Daimler and Geely Holding form global joint venture to develop smart

28.

March 2019

Stuttgart, Germany; Hangzhou, China

50:50 joint venture between Daimler and Geely based in China to develop and operate smart brand globally as all electric carmaker smart to gain shared expertise in manufacturing, engineering and design from both groups smart to expand to meet demand for electrification, with production based in China New smart models planned from 2022 in all-electric product renewal 28 March 2019, Stuttgart, Germany; Hangzhou, China. Daimler AG (Daimler) and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely Holding), the German and Chinese automotive groups, today announced the formation of a 50-50 globally focused joint venture to own, operate and further develop smart, the pioneer of small urban vehicles, as a leader in premium-electrified vehicles.
Under the joint venture agreement, a new generation of smart electric models will be assembled at a new purpose-built electric car factory in China with global sales due to begin in 2022.
Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, said: “For more than 2.2 million customers, smart represents a pioneer in urban mobility. Based on this success story, we look forward to further enhancing the brand with Geely Holding, a strong partner in the electric vehicle segment. We will jointly design and develop the next generation of smart electric cars that combine high-quality production and known safety standards for sale both in China and globally. In the future, we are looking forward to working with all partners to sustain our success in China and worldwide. Separately, Mercedes-Benz will produce a compact electric vehicle at the Hambach plant, sustaining employment with further investment in the facility.”
Li Shufu, Geely Holding Chairman, added: “We fully respect the value of smart. This brand has a unique appeal and strong commercial value. Geely Holding and Daimler look forward to this challenging and exciting new project, through which we will further push the introduction of premium electric products to give a better mobility experience to our customers. As equal partners, we are dedicated to promoting the smart brand globally; we will leverage our experience and global competencies in brand management, R&D, manufacturing, supply chain management and other areas. The synergies from this cooperation will lead to mutual benefits, at the same time we will further develop technologies for smart including connectivity, to continue to lead in the industry as it undergoes a wider transformation.”
The board of directors of the new smart joint venture will be made up of six executives with equal representation from both parties. Daimler AG board representatives will include Hubertus Troska, Daimler AG Board of Management member responsible for Greater China, Britta Seeger, Daimler AG Board of Management member responsible for Marketing and Sales of Mercedes-Benz Cars, and Markus Schäfer, Member of the Divisional Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain and designated Board of Management Member responsible for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development. Geely board representatives will include Geely Holding Chairman Li Shufu, Geely Holding President, Geely Auto Group President and CEO An Conghui, Geely Holding Executive Vice President and CFO Daniel Donghui Li.
The joint venture partners have agreed that the new generation of smart vehicles will be styled by the worldwide Mercedes-Benz Design network with engineering from Geely global engineering centers. Future production will be located in China.
As part of the vehicle-development program, the smart product portfolio is also planned to be extended into the fast-growing B-segment.
Prior to the launch of new models from 2022 onwards, Daimler will continue to produce the current generation of smart vehicles in its Hambach plant France (smart EQ fortwo) and at Novo Mesto (Slovenia, smart EQ forfour).
In parallel, the Hambach plant will assume an additional new role in the Mercedes-Benz Cars production network and will produce a compact electric vehicle by Mercedes-Benz under the new product and technology brand EQ in the future. Mercedes-Benz is investing €500 million on the Hambach plant and will use the expertise of its experienced and motivated smart workforce.
The joint venture is expected to be finalised by the end of 2019. Financial terms of the smart joint venture have not been disclosed.
This joint venture follows the separate agreement between Daimler Mobility Services and Geely Technology Group announced last year, in which the companies agreed to cooperate on a new premium ride-hailing service in China.
Further information is available in a blog entry by Dieter Zetsche at the Daimler-Blog: https://blog.daimler.com/en/2019/03/28/joint-venture-geely-daimler-smart-china/

Press Contact

Ariane Fiedler

Manager International smart Communications

ariane.fiedler@daimler.com

Tel: +49 711 17-75924

Fax: –

Willem Spelten

Head of international Brand & smart Product Communications

willem.spelten@daimler.com

Tel: +49 (0)711 17-75847

Fax: +49 (0)711 17-79099473

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Cars in Europe could soon be fitted with technology to stop drivers speeding

Silas Stein | picture alliance | Getty Images
Illuminated panels indicate a speed limit of 120 kilometers per hour above the A3 motorway near Frankfurt Airport, Germany.

A range of mandatory safety features for new vehicles, including technology that could limit speed, are set to be introduced in the European Union (EU).

In an announcement Tuesday, the European Commission — the EU's executive arm — said that EU institutions had come to a provisional political agreement on the new measures. That agreement is now subject to formal approval from the European Parliament and Council, with the new technologies set to be introduced in 2022.

The proposed safety features include the introduction of intelligent speed-assistance technology, or ISA. According to the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), ISA uses technology such as GPS, digital mapping and cameras to give vehicles location and speed limit information.
ISA systems can “limit engine power” to stop drivers from going above the speed limit. The ETSC says it recommends ISA technologies that can be temporarily overridden. This would mean that drivers could, in scenarios such as overtakes on lower-speed sections of road, override the system by putting their foot down on the accelerator.

The mandatory ISA system proposed by the Commission would not automatically slow a car down, but warn a driver that they were travelling above a road's speed limit.

Several major car manufacturers already offer various iterations of ISA systems in their vehicles.

Other proposed safety features include advanced emergency braking, cameras that assist with reversing, and lane-keeping assistance. Vehicles will also provide warnings if they detect a driver is drowsy or distracted and will use data recorders to document accidents.

“Every year, 25,000 people lose their lives on our roads,” EU Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska said in a statement.
“The vast majority of these accidents are caused by human error,” she added. “We can and must act to change this. With the new advanced safety features that will become mandatory, we can have the same kind of impact as when the safety belts were first introduced.”
A number of major car firms are looking to introduce increasingly sophisticated and connected safety features to their vehicles.
Just last week, Volvo Cars announced it would install in-car cameras and sensors to monitor drivers for signs of intoxication and distraction.

The firm said the technology would be used to monitor drivers and, when needed, enable the car “to intervene if a clearly intoxicated or distracted driver does not respond to warning signals and is risking an accident involving serious injury or death.”

Actions the car could take include limiting speed to slowing down and then parking the car in a safe place. Installation of the technology will start in the early 2020s.

At the beginning of March, the company announced it would introduce a 180 kilometers per hour (112 miles per hour) speed limit on all its cars from 2020.

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Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect how the ISA system proposed by the European Commission would work.

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Volvo to boost plug-in hybrid production to 25 percent of fleet

2020 Volvo XC90
While other automakers are moving away from plug-in hybrids to electric powertrains, Volvo is finding unexpected success with its lineup of plug-in hybrids.

At a recent roundtable with journalists in Sweden, Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson said the company is disappointed that it underestimated demand for its plug-in hybrids.

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“We are not happy because we could sell more [plug-in hybrids],” he said, according to Automotive News (subscription required.) “We underestimated the demand.” He said the company did not have a big enough supply of batteries, motors, and other electrical components to build more of its plug-in hybrids, which sell for about 30 percent more than non-hybrid versions of the cars.

Samuelsson said the company will boost its capacity for those plug-in hybrid components for 2019, from its current 10 or 15 percent worldwide, up to 25 percent of its sales.

READ THIS: Audi plans new plug-in hybrid Q5, A6, A7, and A8 for Geneva reveal

Last year in the U.S., Volvo sold a little less than 1,500 XC90 T8 PHEVs, a little more than 2,100 XC60 T8 PHEVs, and fewer than 500 S90 T8 sedans, but it sold almost 27,000 plug-in hybrids in Europe, combined.

At the same time, the company announced an upgrade to upcoming XC60 and XC90 T8 hybrids to boost their plug-in range by about 15 percent.

CHECK OUT: Fiat Chrysler lays groundwork to build electrified Jeep models

The new models haven't been rated by the EPA, but current models have an estimated 17 miles of electric range, which would put the new ones up around 20 miles. The Volvos use a 2.0-liter turbo-4 and an 8-speed automatic transmission to drive the front wheels, and an electric motor to provide another 87 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheels.

Volvo also announced a new B5 line of mild-hybrid SUVs for Europe.

Other automakers, such as Audi, BMW, and Jeep have also announced plans to boost their lineups of plug-in hybrid SUVs, earlier this month at the Geneva auto show, so the new Volvos will have plenty of competition.

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