Mercedes-Benz to Strengthen Geely Partnership via Investment in Autonomous Driving Company Qianli

• Qianli is a Chinese company that acts as Geely’s autonomous driving arm.

• Mercedes and Geely are already in talks about sharing future gasoline engines.

• The German automaker aims to make its cars more competitive in China with locally developed tech.

Mercedes-Benz is reportedly about to buy a minority stake in Qianli, a Chinese autonomous driving company backed by Geely.

Better known here as the company that owns Volvo and Polestar, Geely is one of the largest automakers in China and ranked as the ninth best-selling auto company in the world last year. In addition to the two Swedish brands, Geely also sells cars and trucks under its own name and owns a controlling share in Smart, Lotus, and the London EV Company, makers of the city’s famous black cabs, among others.

While Mercedes is at the forefront of advanced driver assistance systems, being the first European automaker to have its Level-3 semi-autonomous system certified for public use, it aims to improve its competitiveness in China with local technologies.

This mirrors the strategy of numerous other automakers, who team up with Chinese companies to better tailor their products to local tastes.

While China, the largest auto market globally, was very profitable for European automakers a few years ago, the rapid rise of Chinese companies such as BYD and Xiaomi, which offer highly advanced hybrid and electric models at extremely competitive prices, has made it more difficult for them to remain relevant.

Geely-backed Qianli is a logical choice of partner for Mercedes-Benz, since the German automaker is already in early talks with Geely over a shared next generation of gasoline engines.

Geely’s entire autonomous driving assets were folded into Qianli a few years ago, making it the main driving force behind the Chinese automaker’s driver assistance developments.

In addition, Geely’s chairman, Li Shufu, personally bought a 9.69 percent stake in Mercedes-Benz back in 2018, making him the company’s largest single shareholder.

While neither Mercedes-Benz, Geely, or Qianli have commented on the German automaker’s pending investment, rumours suggest that the deal could be announced as early as this week.

Unsurprisingly, details about the two companies’ upcoming partnership are scarce, so we don’t know if Mercedes-Benz intends to improve its existing autonomous driving features with the help of Qianli, or if they will work on a separate set of features destined only for the Chinese market.

Source: Automotive News