SHANGHAI, March 27 (Reuters) - China's Geely Group GEELY.UL is merging three existing units employing nearly 2,000 engineers to develop digital cockpit systems into a single unified team, said a source with direct knowledge of the situation.

The merger marks the carmaker's latest move to streamline its workforce and improve efficiency.

Geely will integrate digital cockpit teams and investments from the Zeekr ZK.N, Lynk & Co and Geely 0175.HK brands, which have until now developed cockpit systems independently，the person said. In the past few months it has moved to integrate its smart driving R&D teams.

It was not immediately known how many employees might lose their jobs as part of the consolidation, which aims to reduce both costs and redundancies, the source said.

"Geely is optimizing internal resources to enhance synergies in technology and R&D across our brands, with no plans for redundancies," Geely said in a statement to Reuters on Thursday.

Smart cockpit systems are a key selling point for Chinese automakers looking to woo consumers in the hyper competitive domestic market as they enhance the driving experience with features such as voice recognition and navigation maps.

Alongside its in-house teams, Geely also buys technology for its smart cockpit systems from Ecarx ECX.O and smartphone maker Meizu, which are both backed by Geely founder Li Shufu. Geely and its affiliated brands contribute 70% of Ecarx's revenue, its CEO has said.

The Chinese automaker, which aims to sell more than 5 million vehicles annually by 2027, has been restructuring its sprawling brands into two units - Geely Auto and Zeekr Group - targeting the mass market and premium segments respectively.

Geely has accelerated the adoption of smart driving technologies on its vehicle brands over the past two months after consolidating several engineering teams employing thousands of people and partnering with artificial intelligence company Qianli Technology.

Zeekr said in March it would start deliveries of its first EV model equipped with technology that will allow drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel in the second half of 2025.

(Reporting by Zhang Yan and Casey Hall; Editing by Kate Mayberry)

((Zoey.Zhang@thomsonreuters.com;))