Premium ride-hailing service will be offered in selected cities across China in 2019 The new joint venture will be headquartered in Hangzhou
Fleet initially will include Mercedes-Benz Maybach, S-Class, E-Class and V-Class vehicles
Stuttgart / Hangzhou – Daimler Mobility Services and Geely Group Company, Geely Holding Group’s new business entity, announced today that they will form a premium ride-hailing joint venture in China. The 50-50 joint venture (the “JV”) will be headquartered in Hangzhou. The JV will provide ride-hailing mobility services in several Chinese cities using premium vehicles including but not limited to Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The fleet initially will include Mercedes- Benz S-Class, E-Class and V-Class and Maybach vehicles and could be supplemented by premium electric vehicles of the Geely Group. Financial terms and the investment plans of the JV have not been disclosed at this stage. The implementation of the JV is subject to approval by the merger control authorities.
Klaus Entenmann, CEO Daimler Financial Services AG, said: “Daimler is ideally positioned to continue its transformation by expanding into a comprehensive mobility services company as we pave the way to autonomous driving. With Geely Group, we have found an excellent partner to expand our mobility services in China. The joint venture will play a significant role as we continue to enlarge our portfolio and global presence and solidify our strong position in the mobility market.”
An Conghui, Geely Holding President, said: “We are delighted to have defined terms for a premium ride-hailing joint venture with Daimler Mobility Services. The development of such services, in which both companies already have a presence, forms part of our transformation from a vehicle manufacturer into a global automotive technology group.”
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding at Daimler Headquarters in Stuttgart was attended by An Conghui, Geely Holding President, and Liu Jinliang, President of Geely Group Company, Geely’s new business division, as well as by Klaus Entenmann, CEO Daimler Financial Services AG, and Jö rg Lamparter, Head of Mobility Services at Daimler Financial Services AG.
Daimler Communications, 70546 Stuttgart, GermanyAs part of the JV, Geely Group Company and Daimler Mobility Services will be equally represented on the board of the new ride-hailing service, for which the two companies will jointly develop the software infrastructure required to support the business in China.
The joint venture will complement Geely Group company’s and Daimler’s expansion into new mobility services
Geely Holding has launched CaoCao, the Chinese domestic ride-hailing service that currently has more than 17 million registered users, with one million regular active users on the app providing more than 29,000 pure electric vehicles in 28 cities across the country and with over 360,000 completed trips throughout the country on a daily basis.
With the JV, Daimler Mobility Services will enlarge its global presence: As of September 30, 2018, car2go, moovel as well as mytaxi/Intelligent Apps* accounted for 26 million customers. With car2go and Car2Share, Daimler is currently providing free-floating as well as station-based car-sharing services to over 470,000 customers in China who have completed over 20 million kilometers in car-sharing journeys. The proposed JV is another step in the implementation of the Daimler CASE strategy, with its four pillars Connected, Autonomous, Shared & Service and Electric Drive.
Daimler at a Glance
Daimler AG is one of the world’s most successful automotive companies. With its divisions Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler Buses and Daimler Financial Services, the Daimler Group is one of the biggest producers of premium cars and the world’s biggest manufacturer of commercial vehicles with a global reach. Daimler Financial Services provides financing, leasing, fleet management, insurance, financial investments, credit cards, and innovative mobility services. The company’s founders, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, made history with the invention of the automobile in the year 1886. As a pioneer of automotive engineering, it is a motivation and commitment of Daimler to shape safely and sustainably the future of mobility: The Group’s focus is on innovative and green technologies as well as on safe and superior automobiles that appeal and fascinate. Daimler consequently invests in the development of efficient drive trains with the long-term goal of locally emission-free driving: from hightech combustion engines about hybrid vehicles to electric drive trains powered by battery or fuel cell. Furthermore, the company follows a consistent path towards intelligent connectivity of its vehicles, autonomous driving and new mobility concepts. This is just one example of how Daimler willingly accepts the challenge of meeting its responsibility towards society and the environment. Daimler sells its vehicles and services in nearly all the countries of the world and has production facilities in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Africa. Its current brand portfolio includes, in addition to the world’s most valuable premium automotive brand, Mercedes-Benz (Source: Interbrand-Study „The Anatomy of Growth“, 10/5/2016), as well as Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-Maybach and Mercedes me, the brands smart, EQ, Freightliner, Western Star, BharatBenz, FUSO, Setra and Thomas Built Buses, and Daimler Financial Services’ brands: Mercedes-Benz Bank, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, Daimler Truck Financial, moovel, car2go and mytaxi. The company is listed on the stock exchanges of Frankfurt and Stuttgart (stock exchange symbol DAI). In 2017, the Group sold around 3.3 million vehicles and employed a workforce of more than 289,300 people. With application of IFRS 15 and IFRS 9 in financial year 2017, Group revenue would have amounted to €164.2 billion and Group EBIT would have amounted to €14.3 billion. Before application of IFRS 15 and 9, Group revenue in 2017 amounted to €164.3 billion and Group EBIT amounted to €14.7 billion, as previously reported.
About Zhejiang Geely Holding Group
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (ZGH) is a global automotive group that owns several well-known international automotive brands, with operations spanning the automotive value chain, from research, development and design to production, sales and servicing. Founded in 1986 by Li Shufu, the company’s Chairman, in the city of Taizhou in China’s Zhejiang province, Geely Holding launched its automotive business in 1997 and is now headquartered in Hangzhou, China. The Group is comprised of five main businesses lines: Geely Auto Group, Volvo Car Group, Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicles, Geely Group, Mitime Group. Its brands include Geely Auto, LYNK & CO, Volvo Cars, Polestar, London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC), Yuan Cheng Auto, PROTON, Lotus, and Terrafugia. ZGH sold over 1.8 million vehicles in 2017, with Volvo Car sales reaching historic highs of 571,577 cars globally and Geely Auto Group sales growing over 63% to reach 1,247,116 units in total.
ZGH has over 120,000 employees across the world, and has been listed in the Fortune 500 for the past seven years. For more information regarding Zhejiang Geely Holdings please refer to the official website at http://www.zgh.com/