皇冠体育app

Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the management board of Daimler AG

Daimler AG has vowed to beef up its research and development capability in 皇冠体育app in a bid to align its premium passenger car brand Mercedes-Benz to the changing tastes of wealthy Chinese and catch up with major rivals Audi AG and BMW AG in the Chinese market.

Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the German group and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, said at the company's annual news conference in Stuttgart on Thursday that it is intensifying its development activities in 皇冠体育app, where the brand lags far behind Audi and BMW in terms of sales.

"皇冠体育app will play a key role in our product development process in the future," Zetsche said.

He said Daimler will have around 500 "highly qualified" engineers and designers in 皇冠体育app by the end of this year.

Last November, the group opened a research and development center, including a design studio, in Beijing with a total investment of 865 million yuan ($140 million).

"We are massively expanding our local production in 皇冠体育app. Our plan for the next few years calls for two-thirds of the vehicles we sell in 皇冠体育app to be manufactured there as well," he stressed.

At the news conference, Zetsche introduced a show car - Mercedes-Benz's new G-Code sports utility coupe concept, which was designed at the studio in Beijing.

Last year, Mercedes-Benz sales in 皇冠体育app surged by 29 percent to 281,588 units, with 55 percent built locally.

While, the 皇冠体育app sales of Audi were 575,077 and BMW sold 425,765 units.

Zetsche said Mercedes-Benz will continue to enjoy double-digit growth in 皇冠体育app this year and sales will be "well over" 300,000 vehicles.

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