Mercedes-Benz could build on Geely's technology to develop a new electric platform

The relationship between Mercedes-Benz and Geely goes back a long way, since Geely has held an individual stake in the German company’s shareholder base for quite a few years. Despite this, technological collaboration between the two companies has been very limited until now. This situation, however, may seem set to change before long, according to a recent report published in Chinese media, which Mercedes-Benz was quick to deny.

Assuming this report is accurate, Mercedes-Benz would be working on a new global electric platform aimed at compact vehicles, codenamed “Phoenix”. What is particularly striking about this new platform is that it would not be a development of Mercedes-Benz’s own, but would be based on Geely’s GEEA 4.0 platform –Geely Electronic & Electrical Architecture-.

The report details that Mercedes-Benz engineers would be carrying out a feasibility study or proof of concept. Since January there has reportedly been a greater presence of German executives at Geely’s development centre in Hangzhou Bay, and in February a Chinese management team reportedly travelled to Shanghai to advance the negotiations.

The times are changing

If this project finally goes ahead, it would be the first led by Mercedes-Benz China after undergoing a profound internal restructuring. The company’s R&D centre in China would thus become the global hub for compact vehicle development, independently taking on the design and engineering of new models in this segment. This would be especially significant because, if confirmed, it would be the first time Mercedes-Benz develops a complete platform outside Germany.

In any case, as things stand today, all we have is a flat denial from Mercedes-Benz. In a statement published by the German firm, the company described the alleged cooperation as “invented and inaccurate“, thereby casting doubt on the forecast in the report that the Phoenix platform will enter mass production around 2030.

So, although for now the official position of Mercedes-Benz rules out any agreement of this kind with Geely, the pressure to cut costs and Geely’s strong presence as a shareholder will keep speculation alive about a possible deeper cooperation between the two companies in the future.