It’s widely known that a Chinese car company by the name of Geely now owns Swedish automaker Volvo. This is not such a bad thing, mind you, as Zheijiang Geely Holding Group is one of the largest conglomerates in China. And Volvo has been doing well lately, with a newfound resurgence to boot.
Now, the Chinese auto giant expands its global reach, particularly in the European market as it buys a 9.7% stake in Daimler AG, owner of premium German car and truck maker Mercedes-Benz. The investment worth $9 billion, Bloomberg News reports, is the largest by a Chinese company to date. This also means that Geely is the biggest investor in the Daimler Group.
It has been reported that Mercedes-Benz sold more cars and SUVs in China compared to other luxury brands. The number is roughly 600,000 units. Yet beyond the stellar sales, sources believe that Geely’s interest in Mercedes and Smart has to do less with sales figures and more with future tech.
Mercedes-Benz is known to be hard at work developing its lineup of electric vehicles. The substantial investment by Geely could help by giving them extra cash to fund further R&D. Geely, on the other hand, will have direct access to electric vehicle and autonomous mobility tech.
Apart from Volvo, Geely also purchased a stake at Lotus Cars last year. And while Mercedes-Benz has been on a roll lately, it should be interesting to see what this new investment will do for its future. Stay tuned as we bring you the latest on this as it unfolds.
