On July 5, 2017, Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China and Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, witnessed that BAIC Group and Daimler concluded and entered into a new framework agreement to perform their commitment for making contributions to the continuous development of electric vehicle industry in China, which will deepen their cooperation in the joint venture enterprise – Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd. The two sides stated that they would jointly invest RMB 5 billion (about EUR 655 million) to build the production base of battery electric vehicle and power battery factory in Beijing Benz and introduce the battery electric vehicle products of Mercedes-Benz brand.

BAIC Group and Daimler agreed that they would invest to produce the electric vehicle in Beijing Benz in 2020. Therefore, they would establish the production base, develop the local production and R&D of power battery and adopt the domestic battery cell.

Xu Heyi, President of the Board of Directors of Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd. and Hubertus Troska, Member of the Board of Directors and Head of Business in Greater China of Daimler AG, attended the signing ceremony held in Berlin, Germany.

Mr. Xu Heyi said, “As the representative of Chinese and German auto enterprises, the cooperation between BAIC Group and Daimler has reached a higher level by signing the new strategic framework agreement. We would adhere to the common commitment for China auto market and make full use of our advantages so as to prepare for the production of electric vehicles by Beijing Benz. This signing has established a good foundation for Beijing Benz to become the important production base of China electric vehicle in the future.”

“As another important milestone of Daimler China electric vehicle strategy, we would work hard to expand the investment in China – the largest new energy vehicle market with BAIC Group. The Chinese market would play an important role in the Benz global layout of new energy vehicle in 2025. Daimler would accelerate the localization process in order to the meet diversified demands from Chinese customers for electric vehicle. We would adopt the domestic battery cell to produce the power battery and electric vehicle in Beijing Benz, thus providing the support for China to become the innovation base of world auto industry,” presented by Hubertus Troska.

BAIC Group and Daimler would make a joint investment in Beijing Benz to build the new power battery factory of electrical vehicle. Markus Schäfer, the head of production and chain in Mercedes-Benz Automotive Group, said that “power battery factory of luxury electric vehicles established in China would be the important step of Daimler’s strategic layout and the first one in the global production network except Germany. Local production of power battery is of great importance for meeting the demands for battery electric vehicle of Chinese customers.

Daimler is actively expanding the global power battery production network of Mercedes-Benz passenger auto. The power battery factory of Beijing Benz would become a critical part of the production network equipped with the advanced Industry 4.0 production standard, equipment and technology, other than the Kamenz power battery production base in Saxony, Germany.

BAIC Group is one of the enterprise to make the layout of new energy vehicle industry at the earliest and electric vehicle has won the sales champion in Chinese market for four years in succession. BAIC Group has taken the new energy vehicle industry as one of the core business sector of the group transformation and committed to mastering the core technology of battery, motor and electronic control system, establishing the charging and replacement service facilities, creating the green, smart and shared service platform and building the green travel ecosystem of new energy vehicle whole-industrial chain. BAIC Group would take great efforts to focus on the technology, product, resources and market to lead in the China new energy vehicle market.

Founded in 2005, Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Beijing Benz”) is a joint venture enterprise co-built by BAIC Motor Corporation Ltd. and Daimler. After 12 years of development, Beijing Benz has made the remarkable achievements and become the world’s most comprehensive Mercedes-Benz base of Daimler. It owns the largest R&D center of Daimler Joint Venture and its products include E-Class, C-Class, GLC SUV, GLA SUV, as well as Mercedes-Benz 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder engines. The sold vehicle types account for two-thirds of the total annual sales volume of Mercedes-Benz in China. The cumulative production and sales volume of Beijing Benz is 1.3 million vehicle roughly as of June 2017. In addition, Beijing Benz has won the title – “The Best Large-scale Manufacturer” awarded by “The Best Factory of the World” Jury. As a major comprehensive base for Mercedes-Benz passenger cars in China, Beijing Benz plays a key role in Daimler’s global development strategy.