China's BAIC now Daimler's largest shareholder
China's BAIC Group has become Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler's largest shareholder, said the German carmaker on Monday.
Daimler said BAIC has held a 9.98 percent stake since 2019, but the Chinese carmaker does not have plans to further increase its stake in Daimler.
Another Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group now ranks second after BAIC, with a 9.69 percent stake in the German car group.
BAIC has been Daimler's main partner in China for years and operates Mercedes-Benz factories in Beijing through Beijing Benz Automotive.
The two companies have collaborated in areas such as production, research and development and sales since 2003.
Daimler holds a 9.55 percent stake in BAIC's listed arm in Hong Kong and a 2.46 percent stake in BAIC BluePark, an electric car subsidiary.
The German carmaker said its partnership with BAIC has been a role model for Sino-German cooperation for almost two decades.
Ola Kaellenius, chairman of the board of management at Daimler and Mercedes-Benz, welcomed the information on the size of BAIC's stake, saying in a statement: "We are happy about the engagement of all long-term oriented shareholders, who support our strategy."
Mercedes-Benz has unveiled a plan to go "electric only" by 2030, wherever market conditions allow.
It said China plays a major role in this strategy. By the end of 2021, it has introduced four electric Mercedes-Benz models into China. Three of them are locally produced and local production of another model is planned for 2022.
"During our partnership with BAIC, China has emerged as the largest global market for Mercedes-Benz and as a key driver of the shift towards electric mobility and digitalization.
"BAIC's shareholding is a reflection of their commitment to our joint successful manufacturing and development alliance in the world's biggest car market," said Kaellenius.
In China, Mercedes-Benz now has over 700 dealer outlets in more than 240 cities, serving about 5 million customers. It delivered 592,203 new vehicles in China in the first three quarters of 2021, with year-on-year growth of 4 percent.
