Motors Tracker

China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology, the world’s biggest power battery maker, and Mercedes-Benz are upgrading their partnership with the aim of giving the German carmaker’s new EQS luxury sedan mileage of over 700 kilometers and double the charging speed of current models. The arrangement includes the full range of battery technologies, including cells and entire battery systems, along with the shared development of cutting-edge technology, Ningde, Fujian province-based CATL said in a statement yesterday. “Mercedes invented the car more than 130 years ago and has developed its technology with countless innovations,” CATL founder and Chief Executive Robin Zeng said. “This combined with CATL's expertise in battery, will be a decisive step to both parties' electrification strategies.” The collaboration will make CATL a leading supplier of Mercedes-Benz, under Stuttgart-based auto giant Daimler, to guarantee the battery supplies of the EQ series in the n...

Mercedez-Benz, Audi, BMW and other luxury carmakers have taken this year’s Chengdu Auto Show in southwestern Sichuan province by storm, investing heavily to debut a number of super sleek car models targeting China’s younger clientele. Even though the number of visitors to this year’s auto show, the biggest in western China, is less than in previous years, the three German brands have all upped the ante, expanding their exhibition floor space and filling them with a range of state-of-the-art autos, as China’s luxury car market shows no sign of slowing. Munich-based BMW had six new cars on show, including its latest 4 series coupe, a low-slung, aerodynamic, sporty fashion statement. The firm commanded an exhibition area of 3,210 square meters while Mercedez-Benz and Audi were not far behind with booths of almost 3,000 square meters. The three marques are all neck to neck in the battle for market share. Mercedez-Benz, owned by Germany’s Daimler, sold 346,000 units in China in the first ha...

Smart Automobile, a joint venture between Geely Holding Group and Mercedes-Benz, has named the top executives who will lead a new European subsidiary. Daimler veteran Dirk Adelmann has been appointed as CEO of Smart Europe and   Martin Günther,an experienced finance and controlling executive in Mercedes-Benz’s aftersales division, will serve as its chief financial officer, Smart Auto’s parent companies said in a joint statement yesterday. “After holding several executive sales and marketing roles in the global Mercedes-Benz network, Dirk Adelmann successfully transformed Smart into an electric-only brand on the retail level,” they said. The   wholly owned   unit will be   headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, and will be in charge of the brand’s supply, sales and aftersales service in Europe. Smart Automobile’s   global operations will be run out of the Hangzhou Bay New Area of Ningbo in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, with marketing centers in China and Germa...

The number of vehicles carmakers recalled in China in the first half increased over the same period last year, with Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz leading the pack. Mercedes-Benz yanked back 788,300 vehicles from among almost all its domestic and imported models, as shown by  data from the State Administration for Market Regulation. Vehicle makers had issued 67 recall notices in the world’s biggest auto market as of June 30, encompassing over 3.2 million cars, in a yearly 16.4 percent increase. German producers flagged a total of almost 1.4 million, making up 43.1 percent of the first-half score. Japan’s carmakers called back over 1.37 million, or 42.7 percent. Honda Motor brought over 770,000 vehicles back in for repairs on May 29 in the largest single recall of Japanese cars in China this year. The massive actions by Honda and Mercedes-Benz related to fuel pump problems and involved more than 1.4 million defective autos in all. This year has also seen burgeoning recalls of new energy ve...