LeEco and Mercedes Benz's parent company Daimler AG are exploring a potential partnership in the niche smart electric vehicle market. Top-level executives of both companies agreed that Internet-based vehicles would dominate the automobile market in future.
Hubertus Troska, chairman and COO of Daimler Greater China, and Hans Georg Engel, the head of Daimler's Chinese R&D facilities, visited LeEco's headquarters in Beijing Tuesday and discussed with Liu Hong, COO and co-founder of LeEco, and Ding Lei, co-founder of LeEco Super Car and Global VP of LeEco, the scope of a possible cooperation. The new partnership would explore several areas in the smart automobile sector, such as an electric car power system, a car-sharing project, smart-driving and online-to-offline (O2O) commerce.
"User demands will tremendously shape the landscape of future automobile industry, and LeEco has been attaching great importance to an open Ecosystem," Ding Lei said in a statement.
Troska said the future of automobiles is smart, electric and Internet-based cars, and applauded LeEco's SEE (Super Electric Ecosystem) plan, launched in December 2014. The SEE Plan underlines the development of smart, Internet-ready electric cars and open automotive ecosystems.
LeEco's partnership with Daimler AG won't be the first as the company has already teamed up with renowned luxury car brand Aston Martin, electric car startup Faraday Future and Beijing Automotive. The company's first concept Super Car is expected to be unveiled at the upcoming auto exhibition in Beijing in April, Jia Yueting, founder and CEO of Le Holdings, said.
Dailmer AG is one of the world's largest luxury car brands, but the competition in the smart electric automobile market is reportedly getting intense with the participation of Internet companies on a global scale. Daimler's association with LeEco will is expected to serve as a platform for the car-maker to explore the Internet-based car market.
