Geely acquires 9.7% of Daimler Group
- Chinese automaker Geely, owner of Volvo Cars, but also of London Taxi Cars (LTC) and Lotus, which recently took a stake in Proton (49.9%) and Volvo Trucks (8.2%), has just acquired a 9.7% stake in the German Daimler Group. Geely, the first independent Chinese automaker, becomes the largest shareholder of Daimler (Mercedes, Smart, AMG), before a Kuwaiti public fund (6.8%) and the Renault-Nissan group (3.1%).
- Geely has not revealed their intentions regarding this new acquisition, but Inovev believes that the Chinese could be interested in the technologies of the parent company of Mercedes, especially concerning electric motorization (for cars, vans and trucks) and autonomous cars (satellite connectivity with internet). This transfer of technology could be of interest to Geely's subsidiaries, such as Volvo Cars, LTC, or Lotus.
- At the same time, with this new participation, Geely has gained presence at the world’s leading truck manufacturer (Daimler) while being already a shareholder of the world’s second truck manufacturer (Volvo Trucks). Perhaps there could be a desire to eventually merge the two major global truck manufacturers?
- Geely's participation in Daimler, however, raises two questions: what will be the future of the partnership between Daimler and BAIC in China and the future of the partnership between Daimler and Renault-Nissan in Europe?
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