By Sarah Wu
BEIJING (Reuters) -Mercedes Benz’s China chief mentioned on Thursday the corporate would proceed to spend money on tie-ups with Chinese language companions like web agency Baidu (NASDAQ:), noting China was essential to its world technique.
China was “essentially the most dynamic new power car market”, Hubertus Troska mentioned at a press convention on the opening day of the Beijing autoshow that was additionally attended by Baidu CEO Robin Li.
Mercedes gross sales chief, Duan Jianjun, informed the identical occasion that they’d introduced a variety of electrical fashions to the present and that the German automaker hoped this may put to relaxation “rumours” that the corporate had given up on electrification.
The executives additionally mentioned Mercedes would launch the electrical G-class in China this 12 months.
In February, Mercedes pushed again a few of its gross sales objectives for electrified autos by 5 years and guaranteed traders it will preserve sprucing up its combustion-engine fashions.
It’s amongst international automakers scrambling to reset their methods on this planet’s auto market as native rivals aggressively roll out new mass-market and luxurious EVs at a quick tempo. Within the first quarter, Mercedes’ first-quarter gross sales in China fell 12%.
