BAIC and Daimler to build USD1.9b China production plant

BAIC Motor Corp. and Daimler AG plan to build a new factory in China for Mercedes-Benz vehicles to meet growing demand as the German automaker deepens its ties with the country.

The automakers will co-invest more than 11.9 billion yuan (USD1.9 billion) to build the facility, BAIC said yesterday in a brief filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The statement didn’t disclose the location of the production base.

“The new factory will manufacture various Mercedes-
Benz products in China including new energy electric vehicles” and improve the overall production capacity of the companies’ joint venture, Beijing Benz Automotive Co., the statement said.

The announcement comes a day after Li Shufu, the billionaire founder of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., said he had acquired a stake worth about 7.3 billion euros ($9 billion) in Daimler, marking the biggest investment in a global automobile manufacturer by a Chinese company. The 9.7 percent stake makes Geely the single largest investor in the parent of Mercedes-Benz. Bloomberg