8.28Daimler denies SPV JV with Brilliance China

Daimler denies SPV JV with Brilliance China

 

http://autonews.gasgoo.com/auto-news/1011941/Daimler-denies-SPV-JV-with-Bril
liance-China.html

 

Shanghai, August 28 (Gasgoo.com) A senior official of Daimler yesterday
dismissed as "speculation, rumors" reports of a joint venture between
Daimler AG and Brilliance China Automotive Holdings to make special purpose
vehicles (SPV) in China, Reuters reported.

 

"I know everything about China in Daimler, so ... from my point of view
that's not right," said Ulrich Walker, head of Daimler's Northeast Asia
operations.

 

On August 3, an executive of Brilliance Auto, the parent company of China
Brilliance, said the shareholding structure and size of the venture had not
been finalized, but a deal could be reached before the end of the year. 

 

"The project is to convert Daimler's commercial vehicles into special
purpose vehicles. We have been in discussion since last year," the
Brilliance Auto executive told AFP.

 

Walker said such a venture would not make strategic sense because
Brilliance, China's eighth-largest carmaker, is a partner of Mercedes-Benz
rival BMW. Brilliance makes BMW 3-series and 5-series sedans in the
northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang.

 

Daimler makes Mercedes-Benz passenger cars in China with Beijing Automotive
Industry Holding Corp (BAIC) and it has also agreed to set up a truck
venture with BAIC subsidiary Beiqi Foton Motor Co.

 

Mercedes-Benz sold 31,711 cars in China in the first seven months of this
year, up 49% from a year earlier. Daimler is planning to expand its local
manufacturing capacity in China, said Walker.

 

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