NINGBO, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and German carmaker Mercedes-Benz announced Wednesday the establishment of a joint venture to operate and develop the Smart brand globally.The joint venture has registered capital of 5.4 billion yuan (about 777.5 million U.S. dollars), with each side contributing 2.7 billion yuan.
Headquartered in Ningbo of east China's Zhejiang Province, the joint venture will enable the two carmakers to cooperate in R&D, manufacturing and supply chains to transform the Smart brand into a leading global producer of high-end, intelligent electric vehicles.
With joint efforts of Mercedes-Benz and Geely Holding, the new model of the purely electric Smart brand will be manufactured in China and is expected to be launched and sold worldwide in 2022.
The joint venture will bring the next generation of zero-emission smart electric cars to the Chinese and global markets, said Ola Kallenius, chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG.
Geely Holding chairman Li Shufu said Geely, with its advantages in R&D, manufacturing and supply chains, will step up cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit and accelerate Smart's electric and intelligent transformation.
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