Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd., commonly known as Geely (/ˈdʒiːli/JEE-lee; Chinese: 吉利; pinyin: Jílì; literally: 'auspicious'), is a Chinese multinational Automotive industry , headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The company is privately held by Chinese entrepreneur Li Shufu. It was established in 1986 and entered the automotive industry in 1997 with its Geely Auto subsidiary.[18] Geely Auto is the seventh-largest automobile manufacturer in China, with 1.328 million sales in China in 2021. Globally, the group sold over 2.2 million cars in 2021,[19] and over 17,926 plug-in electric vehicles in January 2022.[20]
The company produces and sells vehicles under its own brands such as Geely Auto, Geometry, Livan, and Zeekr, and under foreign-located subsidiaries, such as Volvo Cars, Polestar, Lynk & Co, Proton, and Lotus, as well as commercial-only vehicles under the London EV Company, Ouling Auto and Farizon Auto brands. It also produces electric vehicles under some of the previously listed brandings, and motorcycles under its subsidiary Zhejiang Geely Ming Industrial (Jiming and Geely brands), Qianjiang Motorcycle (QJMotor and Keeway brands) and Benelli. In September 2022, the group acquired a 7.6% shareholding in Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc, the ultra-luxury British performance brand Aston Martin.[21]
Geely is a phonetic transliteration of the company's native name 吉利 (pinyin: Jílì), which means "auspicious" or "propitious" in Chinese.[22]
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group was already manufacturing its own cars before it acquired the Swedish passenger car maker Volvo Cars from Ford Motor Company in 2010.[23] It completed the acquisition of British taxi maker London Electric Vehicle Company in 2013,[24] and acquired a majority stake in British sports carmaker Lotus Cars in 2017.[25]
The company's business is divided into five sub-groups: Geely Auto Group which includes the brands Geely Auto, Lynk & Co, Proton Holdings, and Lotus; Volvo Car Group which includes the brands Volvo Cars and Polestar; Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group which include the brands London Electric Vehicle Company and Yuan Cheng (Farizon); Geely Group (New Business) which includes the brands Caocao, Terrafugia, Qianjiang Motorcycle, Joma, and other new businesses; and Mitime Group (铭泰集团) which includes ZGH educational institutions, motorsports business, and tourism business; It has global operations spanning the automotive value chain, including research, development and design to production, sales and service.[26]
Li Shufu, the founder of Geely Group, has described the company's development as encompassing three eras: the "1.0era" of machinery, the "2.0era" of electronics, and the "3.0era" of intelligence.[29][30]
1997–2007, "1.0era"
Shufu founded Geely in 1986 as a refrigerator maker, borrowing funds from family.[22][31]
After the purchase of a state-run firm,[32] Geely manufactured motorcycles in the mid-1990s.[33] Small van production began in 1998,[34] and a year later, it received state approval to manufacture automobiles.[34] Car production began in 2002.[31] A subsidiary of the group, Geely Auto, had its initial public offering on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in 2004.[27]
The company had a booth at the 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show,[35] and a 2006 showing at the North American International Auto Show.[22]
2007–2014, "2.0era"
Geely approached Ford Motor Company in mid-2008 about a possible takeover of Volvo Cars. On 28October 2009, it was named as the preferred buyer of Volvo by the American automaker.[36] A deal was reached in late March and completed in early August 2010.[37]
In 2010, total sales of over 415,000 units gave the company a near two percent market share.[38][39] Sales were lower than a reported 680,000 units per year production capacity.[40]
In December 2011, it was announced that Geely would begin selling Chinese designed and manufactured cars in the United Kingdom at the end of 2012, with the first model to go on sale being the Emgrand EC7.[41][42] At that time, the company also stated its intention to begin sales in Italy.[43]
2014–present, "3.0 era"
In May 2017, Geely confirmed plans to purchase a 51% controlling-stake in Lotus Cars[44] from its owner, DRB-HICOM (Proton).[8] Additionally, Geely was said to have plans to purchase a 49.9% stake in Proton Holdings, to facilitate future export growth in right-hand drive markets.[9][45] The deals were part of the company's financial strategy of making inroads into the lucrative ASEAN region.[25]
In July 2017, the company purchased Terrafugia, an American maker of flying cars.[46] In November 2017, Geely announced completion of the Terrafugia acquisition, including approval from all relevant regulators.[47]
In December 2017, Geely invested €3.25billion into Swedish truck and construction company Volvo Group, a former parent company of Volvo Cars.[48] The deal made Geely the biggest shareholder by number of shares with an 8.2% stake, and second by voting rights, with 15.6%.[48]
In 2018, Geely purchased a 9.7% stake in Daimler AG, owner of the Mercedes-Benz and Smart brands.[49]
In September 2019, Geely led a round of private funding for Volocopter that raised $55million for the company. Volocopter's other private investors also include Daimler AG which owns a stake in the company.[50]
In late July 2020, it was announced that the Xingma Group had agreed to transfer a 15.24% stake of its shares in the Ma'anshan-based heavy truck manufacturer Hualing Xingma to Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Geely Holdings. After the transaction, Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group would become the de facto controlling shareholder of Hualing Xingma.[51]
In September 2020, Geely started talks with rival car manufacturers, including Daimler AG, to license a new architecture it developed for building electric cars. The new technology is purported to offer increased driving ranges of up to 700 km and lighter cars.[52]
Geely is set[when?] to create an electric vehicle joint venture together with Baidu, a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services, products, and artificial intelligence. Baidu would develop the electric car's software while Geely would manufacture the car itself.[53][54]
On 23March 2021, Geely announced the launch of its Zeekr brand of electric vehicles. The first 001 Zeeker was launched in April 2021, and deliveries began in October 2021.[55]
In August 2021, Geely formed a strategic partnership with Renault, with a car production joint venture for China.[56] In January 2022, the two companies signed an agreement by which Renault's South Korean subsidiary, Renault Korea Motors, would produce vehicles based on Geely Compact Modular Architecture platform,[57][58] initially intended for the domestic market. Production is set to start by 2024.[59] In May 2022, Renault said a Geely subsidiary was set to acquire a 34.02% of Renault Korea Motors through capital increase as part of their partnership, although the company would continue to be majority owned by Renault and a consolidated subsidiary of it.[60][61] In November 2022, Renault said it plans to combine its powertrain production and development operations (including internal combustion engines and hybrid systems) with Geely's into a joint venture holding company with both as co-owners.[62][63] In March 2023, Aramco signed a letter of intent to join the powertrain joint venture.[64]
In February 2023, Geely announced it would launch a new range of electrical vehicles[65] and several new models of Geely Galaxy[66] within the next two years.[67]
Automotive divisions and products
Based in China, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group operates in several global locations, via subsidiary brands. The Group's core business activities are within the automotive industry where it controls the following automotive groups and vehicle brands:
Geely Holding Group Automotive Divisions, 2022[68]
(JV) = Joint Venture
Geely Auto is Geely Group's original and mainstream brand, primarily sold in China and select overseas markets. It has two electric vehicle product line, the Geely Geometry for entry-level EV and Geely Galaxy for premium EV/PHEV.
Owned 50% by Geely Auto, 30% by Volvo Cars, and 20% by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Lynk & Co was formed in 2017.[69] It is a Chinese–Swedish car brand based on technology developed jointly by Volvo Cars and Geely Auto.
Lynk & Co 01
Lynk & Co 03
Lynk & Co 09
Zeekr
Zeekr is a brand founded by Geely in 2021 which specializes in luxury EVs.
The Maple brand name originated with Shanghai Maple Automobile, a Geely subsidiary established in 1999 and phased out in 2010.[70] The brand was temporarily revived in 2020 by launching its first EV, the Maple 30X.
In 2022, Geely launched the joint venture between Lifan and Maple called Livan (Ruilan, 睿蓝), and the previous Maple products were reconsolidated into Livan brand.
Owned 51% by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and 49% by Etika Automotive, Lotus Cars is a British producer of sports and racing cars. The first Lotus car was built in 1948 and in June 2017, Lotus Cars became majority owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.[71]
Volvo Cars is owned 78.7% by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (post Volvo Cars IPO).[14] Zhejiang Geely Holding Group acquired Volvo Cars from Ford Motor Company in 2010.[23]
Polestar is owned 50.5% by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (or associated entities) and 49.5% by Volvo Cars.[72] Polestar, a Swedish all-electric premium car brand, was previously part of Volvo Cars before being spun out into an independent entity.
Yuan Cheng Auto (远程汽车) or Farizon Auto was formed in 2016 to focus on the development of commercial vehicles in China and has launched several long-range capable truck and bus solutions. The company raised over $300 million in a Pre-A Round in October 2022 led by GLP's investment arm Hidden Hill Capital,[73] and $600 million in a Series-A funding round in July 2023, led by Boyu Capital and Yuexiu Industrial Fund.[74] The factory was later acquired by the Chinese electric commercial vehicles company Yuan Cheng Auto, which in conjunction with Myoung Shin. The company plans to manufacture CKD-made electric trucks for the China market.[75]
Farizon FX – a pickup truck based on the Geely Boyue Pro SUV[79]
Farizon E200
Farizon E200S
Farizon Xingzhi
Farizon E5L
Farizon E6
Farizon Xingxiang
Farizon FX
A Farizon bus
Additionally, Farizon also has a sub-brand called Ouling (欧铃) selling gasoline-powered lower end micro trucks.
Ouling Fengrui F3 (欧铃 锋锐 F3) – single cab and crew cab micro truck
Ouling Fengrui F3
Radar
Radar is Geely's upscale pick-up truck brand, with its name standing for Rational, Alone, Discovery, Accompany, and Romantic.
The brand's first vehicle, the Radar RD6, was unveiled in 2022.[80]
Radar RD6
LEVC
The London Taxi Company, which was acquired by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in 2013, changed its name to London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) in 2017 to reflect its new mission of developing and producing electric commercial vehicles. With a new factory in Ansty Park, near Coventry, it has begun production of a new generation of zero-emission-capable new taxi vehicle in late 2017.[81]
Jidu Auto (集度), a joint venture between Geely and Baidu, intends to release a full portfolio of electric vehicles in different segments starting in 2022.[82] Jidu Auto is owned 55% by Baidu and 45% by Geely.
Ji Yue (极越) brand was established in August 2023, a second company between Geely and Baidu to reconstruct the partnership between the two companies.[83] The Ji Yue brand is 65% owned by Geely and 35% by Baidu which makes Ji Yue brand a subsidiary under Geely Group rather than a joint venture company like Jidu.[84] Due to the Chinese government's policies, Baidu as the controlling company of Jidu, cannot obtain the qualification to manufacture cars. The purpose of establishment of Ji Yue was to make Geely as the controlling company to solve the restriction of car manufacture qualification.[85] The Jidu Auto became a technology solution company to develop AI driving technology and will not be an independent car marque.[86]
With the new Ji Yue brand, the previous Jidu ROBO-01 was renamed as Ji Yue 01. The Ji Yue brand inherited the brand logo created by Jidu Auto.[87]
Owned 49.9% by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and 50.1% by DRB-Hicom and is managed by Geely Auto Group. Proton is the national car brand of Malaysia, established in the 1980s at the behest of the government and later reverted to private ownership under DRB-Hicom.[88]
The brand Proton, the national carmaker’s first-ever SUV Proton X70 based on first generation Geely Boyue has made its official launch debut in Malaysia on 12 December 2018.[89]
In July 2023, after the internal restructuring in Geely Group, the Proton brand was consolidated into the balance sheets of Geely Group.[90]
In 2020, Mercedes-Benz and Geely Holding formally established the smart brand as a global joint venture, targeting at producing zero-emission electric cars.[91] In 2022, the joint venture launched its first model Smart #1.
Qianjiang Motorcycle is one of the largest manufacturers of two-wheeled vehicles in China. Since September 2016, the majority shareholding (29.8%) of the company has been controlled by the Geely Group. The vehicles are sold under four brands: QJiang, QJMotor, Benelli, Keeway Motors and KSR Moto.
Benelli is a subsidiary that produces motorcycles and scooters. Design, development and marketing activities are carried out at the Benelli QJ headquarters in Pesaro, Italy, with production occurring in Wenling, China, for sale globally.
Benelli TNT 300
Discontinued brands and models
Geely has sold cars under at least three separate brands and may have continued to use the brand name of a purchased company for a short time. The Emgrand, Englon, and Gleagle names were phased out in 2014[92] alongside efforts to reduce sprawl,[93] and the Shanghai Maple brand name was discontinued in 2010 and revived in 2020.[94]
Emgrand (Chinese: 帝豪; pinyin: Dìháo) was launched in 2009 as a medium- to high-end luxury brand.[95] In 2014, Emgrand ceased to be a stand-alone brand, and Emgrand became a sub-brand of Geely, which itself adopted an updated version of the Emgrand logo.
Englon
Launched in 2010 and replacing the Shanghai Maple brand,[94] the company claimed Englon (Chinese: 英伦; pinyin: yīng lún) emulated classic, British style, and its model line included a TX4 sold on the Chinese market.[96] Some of its cars were built by Geely subsidiary Shanghai LTI.[97] As Geely fully acquired The London Taxi Company in 2013, the emblem of Englon also became the new logo of The London Taxi Company.[97]
The former Gleagle logo can be seen on a Geely LC, which was also sold under that brand name.
Gleagle (Chinese: 全球鹰; pinyin: Quánqiú Yīng) was an entry-level brand.[98] Some Gleagle cars, such as the Gleagle Panda, were available for sale on the Internet in China via the Taobao Mall, a popular e-commerce site.[99][100] While Geely would deliver the car to the customer's address, buying one of the Panda models on offer did necessitate a trip to a traditional dealer.[101] This sub-brand was discontinued in 2015. Most products continued to be sold directly under the Geely brand.
Zhidou
Zhidou Auto or ZD Auto brand specialized in microcars. The brand was discontinued since 2021.
Zhidou D2S
Geely Motorcycles
Geely also produced motorcycles since 1994 with its own subsidiary, Geely Ming Industrial Co., with the brand Jiming and Geely Motorcycle.
Production facilities
Part of an assembly line at a Geely plant in Ningbo, Zhejiang, can be seen here.
Headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Geely has production bases in Lanzhou, Gansu (completed in 2006, Geely construction in the region continued as of August 2010 either for expanding the existing facility or for a new semi-complete knock-down factory); Xiangtan, Hunan;[102] an unnamed location 40 minutes south of Shanghai;[103] Jinan, Shandong; and at Linhai, Luqiao, and Ningbo in Zhejiang.[27]
There are overseas factories assemble Geely models probably from semi-complete or complete knock-down kits.[citation needed] Such facilities are or have been located in Indonesia, Sri Lanka (in collaboration with Micro Cars),[104][105] Malaysia, Russia (assembly controlled by local firm Derways), Belarus (BelGee),[106]Azerbaijan (NAZ), Tunisia,[107] and Ukraine . These locations are not necessarily affiliated with or owned by Geely.
International investments and holdings
Mercedes-Benz Group (9.69% stake)
Li Shufu, the founder and chairman of Geely, acquired a 9.69% stake of Mercedes-Benz Group in February 2018, making it the company's largest single shareholder.[108]
In September 2022, Geely acquired a 7.6% stake in Aston Martin.[109][110][111]
In May 2023, Geely increased its stake to 17%, becoming the third-largest shareholder after the Yew Tree consortium and the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.[112][113][114]
In 2017, Geely acquired an 8.2% stake of Volvo AB, which is also about 15% of votes.[115][116]
In January 2024, Geely announced to reduce its holdings in Volvo Group by 685 million USD. The stake has been lowered from 8.2% to 6.8%. Despite the reduction, Geely remains the second-largest shareholder in Volvo Group.[117]
In 2022, Geely invested over US$200 million to acquire a 34.02% stake in a joint venture in South Korea between Renault and the Samsung Group. The company plans to produce vehicles based on the Geely's Compact Modular Architecture platform, initially intended for the Korean domestic market.[118]
CAOCAO (曹操出行)– CAOCAO ride-hailing service was developed by Hangzhou YouXing Technology Company and majority owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. It is the first Chinese new energy focused mobility service.
Terrafugia – Terrafugia was founded in 2006 targeting at roadable aircraft. The company was acquired in full by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in 2017.
Zhejiang Qianjiang Motorcycle Group Co – Qianjiang Motorcycle (钱江摩托) was majority acquired by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in 2016. The company is one of the largest producers of motorcycles in China and owns several renowned brands including Italy's Benelli. It is also known for its lithium battery technology.[120]
Geespace plans to create a network of low earth orbit satellites that will send precise positioning information to self-driving cars.[121]
Mitime Group
Mitime Group was established in 2004 and is affiliated to Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. It focuses on investment and operation management of higher education, sports, cultural tourism and other businesses. The group consists of three departments: Mitime Education, Mitime Sports and Mitime Cultural Tourism.[122]
Mitime Education – ZGH has invested in establishing nine universities and colleges across China, including the Geely University of China (吉利学院), University of Sanya, Xiangtan Institute of Technology (湘潭理工学院), Sanya Institute of Technology (三亚职业理工学院), and Hunan Geely Automobile College (湖南吉利汽车技术职业学院). The wider group has over 40,000 students enrolled within its schools with the goal of developing Chinese automotive industry talents.
Mitime Motorsports – Mitime constructs and operates race tracks for automobiles, motorcycles, and karts around the world. Mitime also organizes motorsport events such as China F4 Championship.
Mitime Tourism – Mitime facilitates tourism and manages hospitality services around its tracks.
The Cuban government has purchased a considerable number of Geely vehicles, and they are used as police patrol cars[32] or tourist taxis throughout Havana.[152][153]
The Geely automobile brand was touted to be launched in the United Kingdom in late 2012.[154][155] However, this plan was not pursued and the official website has been offline since mid-2014.
In July 2020, a first showroom opened in Doha, Qatar.[156]
Figures
In 2010, Geely brand surpassed its 400,000-vehicle sales target goal for the first time selling 415,286 cars[157] of its 680,000 units/year production capacity.[123]
Geely Auto Group (including Geely, Lynk & Co brand) reported annual sales of 1,500,838 units in 2018. That year marks the first time that Geely Auto had reached sales of 1.5 million units.[158]
The 2009 Geely GE concept received criticism for looking like a Rolls-Royce.[167]
An unsuccessful lawsuit was brought against the company in the early 2000s by Toyota, which claimed Geely had "implied in ads that some of the parts [used in Geely vehicles] were made by Toyota".[168] Geely may also have previously used a logo that resembled that of Toyota.[169]
Anecdote
Geely is known for imbuing a sense of humor in the names of some of its vehicles. One of the Geely brand sedan is called the "King Kong" and its early model was named Uliou(Chinese: 优利欧, You Li Ou),[31] a play on words that literally means "better than the Tianjin Xiali (Chinese: 夏利, Xia Li) or the Buick Sail (Chinese: 赛欧, Sai Ou), two of its competitors.[170]
↑Geely model only. Since Geely's acquisition of Smart in 2022, the sales of smart Fortwo/Forfour are accounted for under the Mercedes-Benz Group, while smart #1 and smart #3 are included in the Geely.
↑Consolidated into Geely's balance sheet since 2018
↑Fairclough, G. (2006, Nov 07). "Bumper crop: As barriers fall in auto business, china jumps in; Geely aims to be world player, but quality woes linger; cars a new commodity?; 'copycat' accusations fly." The Wall Street Journal.
↑JAMES MACKINTOSH AND, R. M. (2003). "Carmakers gamble on China". Financial Times.