The German carmaker Daimler confirmed on Thursday that it would join hands with its Chinese partner to promote electric mobility in China.
Daimler acquires a 3.93 percent stake in Beijing Electric Vehicle Co., Ltd. (BJEV), a Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd. (BAIC) subsidiary, said a statement issued by Daimler.
The move is aimed at expanding its strategic footprint in the field of New Energy Vehicles (NEV) in China, Daimler said.
"Electric mobility is one of the pillars of Daimler's future mobility strategy. We are fully dedicated to bringing this strategy forward globally and especially in China, the world's largest NEV market already today", said Hubertus Troska, Member of the Board of Management, Daimler AG, responsible for Greater China.
"The investment in BJEV marks yet another milestone in the strong cooperation between Daimler and BAIC for New Energy Vehicles in China, and it underlines our commitment to the further development of electric mobility in this country," he added.
China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. which owns Volvo car group, has taken over a 9.7-percent stake in Daimler AG for 9.2 billion U.S. dollars and became the largest single stakeholder of Daimler.
Daimler is a frontrunner in electric mobility, smart driving, autonomous driving and ridesharing and there will be good synergy effect among Daimler, Geely and Volvo, the Geely Chairman Li Shufu said when he was commenting on the acquisition of Daimler stake.
