2065438+0010810Just when everyone was expecting to see Hongqi H9 and Ghosn flee publicly, the push of "Geely Holding and Mercedes-Benz formally established a global joint venture company of smart brand" first ignited the circle of friends.
The main information of the article is as follows:
Smart automobile co., ltd. Cars? The company? Ltd.) was formally established and headquartered in Hangzhou Bay New District, Ningbo; ?
The registered capital of the new joint venture company is 5.4 billion yuan, and each party holds 50% of the shares. The board of directors is also composed of three members designated by both parties. Tong Xiangbei, the former assistant to the president of Geely Group and the general manager of Zhangjiakou Factory in linklater, is appointed as the global CEO to co-ordinate all business modules of smart brands such as marketing, sales and R&D; ?
In the future, smart brands will be fully transformed into electrification and intelligence. The new generation of pure electric smart will be designed by the global design department of Mercedes-Benz, and the global R&D center of Geely Holding will be responsible for engineering research and development. The first batch of products is expected to be put on the market from 2022. And sold all over the world.
At this point, after months of preparation, the dust of the joint venture project between Geely and Mercedes-Benz has settled. Geely's "ambition" has been revealed for the first time since it bought 9.69% voting shares of Daimler two years ago and became the largest shareholder of Daimler.
The stock market is to get what you want.
Since it entered the automobile industry from 1997, it is not difficult to guess why Geely thrived and blossomed everywhere in the highly competitive China market. Obviously, long-term strategic vision has played a vital role.
In 20 10, Geely got Volvo from Ford for1800 million dollars. This caused quite a shock in the industry at that time. Many people are not optimistic about this deal, and even laugh at Geely as an ant and dare to eat elephants.
However, time has proved that, driven by the China market, Volvo not only quickly won the recognition of consumers in China, but also broke the global sales record for six consecutive years. Geely not only increased its profit by more than ten times because of the acquisition of Volvo, but also enhanced its brand awareness. The most important thing is to share the key technologies with Volvo, and successfully incubate the four global basic module architectures of CMA, SPA, PMA and BMA.
It can be said that Geely has made a qualitative leap in core technology and has a core competitive advantage over its competitors. Looking back, Geely spent1800 million dollars, which was a real bargain.
In view of the previous success, some people will start to speculate on how much money Geely will make after spending $9 billion to become Daimler's largest single shareholder. But you may not believe it. So far, Geely has not made any money, but it has lost nearly $4 billion due to the shrinking share price of Daimler.
Is Geely really too eager for quick success this time? In the view of "steam talk", it's just that we are at different development nodes and see different "landscapes".
It must be said that Geely took the road of "market for technology" when it acquired Volvo ten years ago. Today, Geely is the well-deserved sales overlord of China brand, and its vision can no longer be limited to the local market. Only by participating in global competition can there be deeper development. Therefore, the acquisition of Daimler shares Geely attaches great importance to long-term cooperation rather than short-term interests.
Just like the establishment of smart Motor Automobile Co., Ltd., I believe that in many people's minds, Mercedes-Benz may have long wanted to find a "receiver" for the smart brand that has been in a state of loss. However, even so, Geely certainly has its own ideas.
Thinking technology? Yes and limited. Because judging from the structure and headquarters of the new joint venture company, Geely will be mainly responsible for the research and development, production and supply chain of new products in the future, while Mercedes-Benz will focus on brand and design.
In other words, Geely has changed the joint venture rules that China car companies used to rely on foreign technology to cross the China market. Instead, it has become a party that provides core technical support for products, hoping to further enhance its popularity in the global market through the brand influence of Mercedes-Benz and smart.
You know, although it has never been profitable, from the perspective of brand culture, smart is still a very influential brand. Up to now, smart has more than 2.2 million car owners worldwide.
At the same time, with its playful and personalized design, smart has millions of fans. Perhaps for various reasons, they can't buy a smart in the end, but this doesn't affect their love for the brand and their constant concern. These are far more important than money for Geely, which urgently needs global competition.
From the perspective of Daimler and Mercedes-Benz, it is very important to re-integrate and optimize the inferior parts of the stock market. Mercedes-Benz's last struggle on smart was to launch a four-door model, but it didn't have much effect. Therefore, for smart brands that are not suitable for China, it is nothing to find a solution that can boost sales by "having a good family". Mercedes-Benz integrates this part with Geely, which is equivalent to a triple solution of new energy, sales volume and cost.
When Mercedes-Benz breaks through the 700,000 mark in China, there will be even greater growth in the future, stronger than riding a thousand miles and far exceeding the Mercedes-Benz brand.
With the transformation of electrification, the challenge of intelligent motor is not small.
Geely and Mercedes-Benz naturally don't want to happen to themselves, but frankly, the challenge before them is not small.
First of all, I have to mention that the Great Wall and BMW are joint-venture beam cars. It is also in the field of pure electric vehicles; Also based on the principle of equality and complementarity, the joint venture share ratio is 50:50; There is also a 3:3 board structure at home and abroad; One is to put the factory in Zhangjiagang, the only vehicle import port in Jiangsu, and the other is to settle in Ningbo, the fourth largest port city in the world.
Whether it is the "love-hate relationship" between the two joint ventures or the development layout with too many similarities, it is doomed that smart motors and light beams will become the objects of comparison in the eyes of others in the future.
First of all, although from the time point of view, the beam car is definitely ahead of the smart motor from the project signing to the official start. However, according to the announcement previously issued by the Great Wall, both beams and smart motors will be put into production around 2020.
Secondly, as "Car Talk" just said, smart has a huge fan base all over the world, but when it comes to buying a car, they often don't choose smart. So how to effectively improve the conversion rate of "wait-and-see customers" in the future is also a problem that Geely and Mercedes-Benz need to think about.
According to the new car development plan, smart's future product lineup will be expanded to a fast-growing compact market segment, which is believed to be improved in terms of space and practicality. Of course, entering the compact market segment also means intensified competition, and the next test is the technical hard strength of the products.
At present, Geely has established five engineering R&D centers and five design and modeling center systems in China, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Gothenburg, Sweden, Coventry, Spain, Barcelona, California and Frankfurt, Germany.
As for the new energy field, Geely has more than 300 core patented technologies in the new energy field, which will also become the core factor and important foundation for the future development of smart motors.
Write at the end:
In fact, whether it is the Great Wall and BMW before, or Geely and Mercedes-Benz this time, every car company is the "big brother" level of the industry. However, in the whirlpool of change, cooperation and strong alliance will surely become the general trend of the future development of the automobile industry.
There is no doubt that coordinated development is a heavy burden for both sides. Just as Mercedes-Benz expects smart to turn a profit through smart motors and further penetrate the domestic new energy market, Geely also hopes to take this opportunity to accelerate the globalization process and expand its influence in the German and European markets.
But it is precisely because of this burden that traditional car companies, such as China brand Geely and global luxury car brand Mercedes-Benz, have always been at the top of the industry, but they have always maintained strong vitality and innovative spirit. For us consumers, why not?
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.