Mercedes’ parent company Daimler is looking to sell its Hambach factory in France, where Smart has been manufacturing its models since 1997.
The sale is part of the automaker’s plan to streamline its production system and, in his own words, “improve its cost structure.”
The company said the high investments in electrification and digitization in its future models combined with the financial blow of the coronavirus pandemic is driving them to “optimize” its global production network.
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The Hambach factory has been building the Smart EQ Fortwo Electric since 2019 and currently employs around 1,600 workers. In 2018, Daimler invested in Smart’s production facilities to prepare it for electric vehicle production, and even planned to build the next EQA there, which is now reportedly to be produced in Rastatt.
That was before Daimler decided to sell 50 percent of the Smart brand to Geely last year, establishing a new joint venture with the Chinese automaker that will move production of future Smart models in China.
However, the German automaker seems to have some conditions for the new owner of the Smart factory. Dausler’s Board member Markus Schäfer said: “An important goal for us is to secure the future of the location. Another condition: the current Smart models will continue to be produced in Hambach. “
Smart is reportedly planning a new high-driving EV, following Daimler’s deal with Geely, which will debut after the reveal of the next-generation ForTwo and ForFour models in 2021.
