FRANKFURT — Daimler and Geely on Friday said China could emerge as a manufacturing and export hub for hybrid powertrains jointly developed for Volvo and Mercedes-Benz cars.
Earlier this week, the German automaker said it will cooperate with China’s Geely to build next-generation combustion engines for use in hybrid vehicles.
Geely owns a 9.69 percent stake in Daimler.
The engines will be produced in China as well as in Europe, and Geely and Daimler will cooperate in engineering, sourcing and production, Daimler said in a statement.
“The export of the engine from China is considered to be an option,” the statement said.
Mercedes-Benz aims for more than half of its passenger car sales to be comprised of plug-in hybrids or full-electric vehicles by 2030.
An Conghui, president of Geely Holding Group and president and CEO of Geely Auto Group said: “This project reflects the need for economies of scale and targeted research and development investment in clean and highly efficient powertrains and hybrid drive systems and their applications.”
