(Yicai Global) July 28 -- Smart Automobile, a joint venture between Geely Holding Group and Mercedes-Benz, has named the top executives who will lead a new European subsidiary.

Daimler veteran Dirk Adelmann has been appointed as CEO of Smart Europe andMartin Günther,an experienced finance and controlling executive in Mercedes-Benz’s aftersales division, will serve as its chief financial officer, Smart Auto’s parent companies said in a joint statement yesterday.

“After holding several executive sales and marketing roles in the global Mercedes-Benz network, Dirk Adelmann successfully transformed Smart into an electric-only brand on the retail level,” they said.

Thewholly ownedunit will beheadquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, and will be in charge of the brand’s supply, sales and aftersales service in Europe.

Smart Automobile’sglobal operations will be run out of the Hangzhou Bay New Area of Ningbo in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, with marketing centers in China and Germany, the statement added. The first batch of Smart electric-only models are expected to be released in 2022.

On Jan. 8, Geely and Mercedes-Benz jointly announced that following regulatory approval they had set up Smart Automobile to operate and promote the transformation and upgrade of the Smart brand globally.

The JV was officially registered at the end of last year with authorized capital of CNY5.4 billion (USD771.5 million). The two parties each contributed CNY2.7 billion. Mercedes-Benz acquired the corresponding shares mainly through the Smart brand.

Editor: Peter Thomas