FRANKFURT — Daimler and Geely on Friday stated China might emerge as a producing and export hub for hybrid powertrains collectively developed for Volvo and Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

Earlier this week, the German automaker said it will cooperate with China’s Geely to construct next-generation combustion engines to be used in hybrid autos.

Geely owns a 9.69 % stake in Daimler.

The engines can be produced in China in addition to in Europe, and Geely and Daimler will cooperate in engineering, sourcing and manufacturing, Daimler stated in a statement.

“The export of the engine from China is taken into account to be an choice,” the assertion stated.

Mercedes-Benz goals for greater than half of its passenger automotive gross sales to be comprised of plug-in hybrids or full-electric autos by 2030.

An Conghui, president of Geely Holding Group and president and CEO of Geely Auto Group stated: “This mission displays the necessity for economies of scale and focused analysis and improvement funding in clear and extremely environment friendly powertrains and hybrid drive programs and their purposes.”