Case Study: Alliance between Swatch and Mercedes Benz
The process of making Smart car started in 1994 after a deal was sealed between Daimler-Benz, maker of Mercedes-Benz and Swatch, Swiss watchmaker. A joint venture of the two companies created a firm known as Micro Compact Car AG whose headquarters were located in Biel, Switzerland. After announcing the deal, three co-directors were appointed to head the new company, which was later to be known simply as the ‘Smart’ after moving to Germany from Biel. The directors were engineer and designer Johan Tomforde and financial administrator Christopher Baubin from Daimler-Benz and swatch marketing manager Hans Jurg Schar. SMH (makers of the swatch watches) contributed 49% of the initial capital of 50 million Swiss francs while Daimler-Benz contributed the remaining 51%. The company comprised of two branches namely MCC GmbH based in a suburb of Stuttgart known as Renningen charged with the responsibility of designing the car. Hayek’s SMH Auto SA, was to Continue reading