Lead
BAIC Group said,
Daimler Group is one of the most important strategic partners of BAIC Group in the world.
On December 13, BEIJING AUTOMOTIVE Group Co., Ltd. ("BAIC Group") announced that it has continued to invest 9.98% of the shares of Daimler AG ("Daimler Group") held in 2019. As soon as the news came out, Beijing Automobile stock rose in response.
Industry analysts believe that this announcement shows that BAIC Group has surpassed Geely to become the largest shareholder of Daimler, and is also the most senior partner that binds Daimler in the Chinese market, and baic group's disclosure of this news at this time may also pave the way for Mercedes-Benz to increase its share ratio in the joint venture company Beijing Benz.
The battle over the share ratio
Both Daimler and BAIC chose to announce on December 13 that BAIC Group has increased its Daimler stake to 9.98% in 2019. This will also surpass the 9.69% voting shares held by Geely Group, becoming Daimler's largest shareholder.
In a statement, Daimler CEO Conlinson said: "BAIC's stake reflects our commitment to our joint manufacturing and development alliance in the world's largest automotive market. ”
Baiqi Group said that Daimler Group holds 9.55% of the shares of BAIC Motor and 2.46% of the shares of BAIC Blue Valley, and the cross-shareholding will help the high-quality development and long-term success of the chinese market. In addition, according to an agreement between the two parties, BAIC Group will no longer increase its stake in Daimler Group.
According to the data, BAIC Group and Daimler have established a long-term strategic partnership since 2003, and the two sides established a joint venture Beijing Benz Automobile Co., Ltd. in 2005, with BAIC Group accounting for 51% of the shares, Daimler Greater China Investment Company and Daimler shares totaling 49%. In 2012, Beiqi Foton and Daimler established a joint venture to produce medium and heavy-duty trucks.
In 2013, BAIC Group and Daimler passed a cooperation plan called "Beidaihe", which is intended to cross-shareholding between the two parties, in 2013, Daimler acquired 9.55% of the shares of BAIC Motor, a Hong Kong-listed company under baic group, and in 2018, it acquired another 2.46% of the shares of Beijing New Energy.
It is worth noting that BAIC Group has already held 9.98% of Daimler's shares in 2019, which is almost double that BAIC Group announced in July of the same year that it bought 5% of Daimler's shares for 20 billion yuan.
In 2018, China's auto market declined, BAIC Hyundai's sales fell sharply, and the sales of Bai automobile and BAIC New Energy also fell sharply, but the luxury car market sang all the way, and Beijing Benz sales rose all the way, becoming the profit cow of BAIC Group.
Also in this year, the National Development and Reform Commission announced that in 2022, the restriction on foreign ownership of passenger cars will be abolished, and the restriction on no more than two joint ventures will be abolished. Through a five-year transition period, the automotive industry will completely remove the share limit.
Subsequently, Daimler has repeatedly proposed to increase its shareholding ratio in Beijing Benz, increasing the shareholding ratio from 49% to no less than 65%, but it has been strongly opposed by BAIC.
Daimler's compensation
"But this is useless, BAIC shares are too dependent on Beijing Benz, independent brands are too weak, in this strong Hengqiang law of the jungle, BAIC can not be Mercedes-Benz, in the end just look at the size of the chips given by Mercedes-Benz", the above analysts believe that even if this negotiation is not appropriate, it is only a matter of time, the German side's will is very strong, and the plan to increase equity will eventually succeed.
But BAIC Group certainly does not want ready-made profits to be cut, so BAIC Group must be deeper tied to Daimler, and increasing its stake in Daimler is one of the measures. In addition, BAIC Group must also see Daimler Benz's large investment in the Chinese market.
The above-mentioned analysts also said: "This time the two sides announced that BAIC Group has increased its equity in Daimler, which is also the most obvious signal that Mercedes-Benz will increase its shareholding ratio in the joint venture, and it is also to pave the way, BAIC believes that even if it loses a part of its shares in Beijing Benz, but by increasing its shares in Daimler, it can be briefly recovered from profits." ”
Earlier this month, Daimler-Benz announced that the company's Supervisory Board had passed a corresponding business plan for 2022-2026, and Mercedes-Benz's products would be completely converted from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles by 2030.
This year is regarded as the "year of EQ" of Mercedes-Benz, on the eve of the Shanghai Auto Show in May this year, Mercedes-Benz held the "Mercedes-Benz EQ Night" and released the new EQS and EQA and EQB. At the recently concluded 2021 Guangzhou Motor Show, Mercedes-Benz unveiled the EQE, AMG EQS 53 4MATIC, Maybach EQS Concept and EQG Concept.
By the end of 2021, Mercedes-Benz will introduce a total of four pure electric models in China, including EQA, EQB, EQC and EQS, of which EQA (365,800 yuan), EQB (437,800 yuan) and EQC (49.98-57.98 million yuan) have been put into production in China, and the new EQE will also be domestically produced next year.
In the view of another analyst, the split listing of Daimler's truck business is also beneficial to bailch group. On December 10 this year, Daimler Truck was officially listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, marking the official "separation" of Daimler's luxury car and truck divisions. Daimler Trucks is currently worth about $27 billion, with the Daimler Group holding 35 percent of the shares.
In the Chinese market, Daimler Trucks and Beiqi Foton Also reached an agreement in early 2020 to produce and distribute Mercedes-Benz tractors in China. Based on Daimler Trucks' global platform strategy, it was even further decided that a new heavy-duty truck will be customized for the Chinese domestic market, and it is planned to start production at the new plant of Beijing Foton Daimler Automobile in Huairou, Beijing, a joint venture between the two parties.