Beijing Auto to be the largest shareholder at Beijing-Benz

Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp is expected to become the largest shareholder at Beijing-Benz DaimlerChrysler Automotive Co Ltd (BBDC); a 50:50 joint venture between DaimlerChrysler and Beijing Auto, after Chrysler sales are completed this September, said Xu Heyi, chairman of the joint venture.

However, it will not happen until next year due to the fact that DaimlerChrysler has so many joint ventures worldwide and each joint venture requires sole one on one focus, said Hu, but the most important thing is that their Chinese partner's gain the ability to make key decisions in future business transactions as its shares will remain unchanged in the venture. This will leave Daimler and Chrysler to decide who takes how many shares.

"Anyway Beijing Benz's production haven't been affected by the change and the venture is expected to be fairly profitable in the near term as long as it has a stable sales growth," Xu added.

In the first half 2007, the joint venture sold a total of 13,500 Benz in the Chinese market, up 28% year on year, sales of Chrysler 300C reached 2,000 for the month of June. The venture is also preparing to launch the Chrysler Sebring mid-sized sedan later this year and Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedans at the end of this year and beginning of 2008, according to sources.