Volvo owners buy in: Pull German city car for China

German design and chinese diligence.

The combination must from 2022 to change the exchange rate for bybilerne from Smart, who, despite their klejne size has been a big loss-making for the owner Daimler. The German automobile giant has turned gradually along with the chinese Geely, and it is hoped that they can repeat the success story, which Volvo has been under Geelys ownership.

The two groups in a press release confirmed that they have set up a joint venture for the Smart brand. It is clear, however, is not how much Geely has paid for their cooperation, giving the two groups a stake in each 50 percent.

Surely it is, in turn, to the towards 2022 to develop a new generation of Smart models together. It writes Automotive News Europe.

According to the press release, the new Smart models will be built at a new factory in China, and they will only be available with electric motors. While Geely to assemble cars, the designers from the Daimler allegedly draw the lines for the new generation.

Smart has since its birth in 1994 turned up to build very small cars, but it will also change in the future. The two groups opens the re-launched Smart brand must have a model of the slightly larger B-segment.

It would then have to fight with danskerfavoritter such as the Ford Fiesta, Peugeot 208 and Toyota Yaris.

Smart builds are currently only three models, all available with either a petrol or electric motor: Fortwo, Fortwo Cabrio and the Forfour. Daimler promises that it will continue to produce the current models in Europe up to 2022.

Even though the Smart cars of the future will be built in China, they will still be sold all over the world. According to Automotive News Europe is the shift from european to chinese production is important for several reasons.

on the other, will Smart get closer to the buyers, which greatly in demand for small electric vehicles, and, secondly, it will reduce the cost of building the cars. The media writes that the technology behind electric cars - and in particular the batteries - still so young that it is hammerdyrt to produce. And it makes it hard to build cheap electric cars that Smart and many others like will.

Therefore, the new joint venture will increasingly be seen as a part of a growing trend than an isolated case, points out Automotive News Europe.