smart is owned by Mercedes-Benz and Geely Holding together, since 2020.

The smart brand was moved out of Mercedes-Benz into smart Automobile Co., Ltd., a 50:50 joint venture with Geely Holding formally established in January 2020 with headquarters in Ningbo.

Where it sits

Two parents, side by side. There is no chain to walk up, because there is more than one.

Mercedes-Benz DE Stuttgart Geely Holding CN Hangzhou

smart

CN Ningbo smart Automobile Co., Ltd.

a joint venture

32 years, two owners

The year is coloured by whoever held it at the time.

1994 Micro Compact Car AG, the company behind the smart brand, was founded in Biel, Switzerland, on 27 April 1994 as a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and the Swatch parent SMH.
2019 Mercedes-Benz and Geely Holding agreed to run the smart brand through a jointly owned company, and smart Automobile Co., Ltd. was set up.
2020 The smart brand was moved out of Mercedes-Benz into smart Automobile Co., Ltd., a 50:50 joint venture with Geely Holding formally established in January 2020 with headquarters in Ningbo.

Mercedes-Benz 2 marques

No controlling shareholder at all, and a Chinese minority holder who is also its partner in smart.

Germany 2

Mercedes-Benz Stuttgart

smart Ningbo

Geely Holding 7 marques

Geely buys companies and keeps their names, rather than inventing badges.

China 3

Geely Auto a marque Lynk & Co Hangzhou Zeekr Ningbo

Sweden 2

Polestar Gothenburg Volvo Cars Gothenburg

Germany 1

smart Ningbo

the United Kingdom 1

London Electric Vehicle Company Coventry