Geely: which is this automaker and its car with 1,000 km of autonomy that arrives in France

These four brands are the visible face of the iceberg. The accumulation of European registrations gives just over 304,000 vehicles for 2022, and already more than 85,000 in the first quarter of 2023. Slowly, but surely, the group makes a place for itself:

Geely: Chinese who is advancing in the shadow of known brands of electric cars

While several Chinese industrial groups have gone to conquer Europe with different approaches, Geely’s strategy is certainly one of the most interesting.

From Outsiders, Chinese manufacturers have since 2022 became the bane of European brands. After dominating their domestic market on electrified cars, several of them decided to attack Europe, a juicy market in the making, which worries both historical players and politicians. Byd, Saic, Nio, Xpeng, GWM or Geely: these names are still relatively unknown to customers, but not their competitors.

If the dreaded Chinese invasion is not yet visible, Geely has already woven his canvas well in Europe using a different strategy from his little comrades. With Geely, the expression ” Do not put all your eggs in the same basket ” makes sense. Its establishment in Europe, started for over 13 years, is reminiscent of the story of a certain Trojan horse.

A strategy that turns out to be quite paying

It is quite interesting to observe the way in which the different Chinese brands have decided to get into Europe. There are almost as many strategies as there are brands, but the most advanced on the subject can be ranked according to 3 approaches:

• The frontal attack, in the Saic Motor way (MG), where the brand arrives with a particularly competitive offer on entry -level level.
• The gentle approach (byd, Great Wall Motor, Nio …), where the brand first targets premium and is setting in the average price without making too many waves.
• Geely’s masked advance, where the group remains in the shadow of known brands.

Excluding automobile enthusiasts, the name of Geely should not evoke much, as for the other new Chinese arrivals, with the exception of MG. An absence of notoriety that has not changed anything in its development in Europe over the past few years.

Rather than trying to set up its marks in its own name in Europe head -on, the Chinese group has another formal strategy to find a place in the sun. He bought, or enters the capital of well -established European brands: Volvo, Lotus, Mercedes and Aston Martin. And, if that was not enough, he also establishes partnerships with joint ventures at 50-50, especially with Renault or Mercedes.

Threat or opportunity for European brands ? Both !

With its rapid development in Europe, over the past two years, the Geely group can be perceived as a serious threat to certain car groups. But, without him, brands like Volvo or Lotus would have certainly disappeared from the automotive landscape. His position does not really make him a priority target to be killed, but his strike force is not to be underestimated.

By buying Volvo in 2010, then launching Lynk & Co in 2016 and Polestar in 2017, the Geely group began its methodical establishment in Europe on premium vehicles. Volvo has found its superb, Lynk & Co innovates on marketing methods and Polestar opens up new markets with its electric vehicles. Lotus was added to the portfolio in 2021, when Geely became the majority shareholder with 51 % of the shares, but Geely had already started to inject funds in Lotus in 2017.

These four brands are the visible face of the iceberg. The accumulation of European registrations gives just over 304,000 vehicles for 2022, and already more than 85,000 in the first quarter of 2023. Slowly, but surely, the group makes a place for itself:

Band	EU registrations in 2022	EU registrations 1st TRIM 2023
Geely	305 066	85,464
You’re here	231 963	93 559
Nissan	236 570	81,742
Mercedes	667 429	181 559
Other Chinese brands	151 538	56 815

The Geely group is not associated with the other Chinese brands on Jato statistics, from which previous data came. Having retained European production, it is not really the Chinese invader directly targeted by criticism. He managed to create a singular position.

Geely’s presence does not stop there. The group also has the electric taxis of the London Electric Vehicle Company and invested in Terrafugia, which works on the subject of flying cars. Finally, the group has also set foot in the capital of other big European names:

• Aston Martin with 17 % of the shares
• Daimler (Mercedes-Benz): 9.7 %

Geely is a good example of inversion of roles between Europe and China

The Chinese have learned a lot from foreign manufacturers who used them as subcontractors or partners for the Chinese market, but with the emergence of electric vehicles, things have changed. Chinese manufacturers reacted to this new issue. They are now among those who bring raw material and know-how to other historical brands. A reversal of the situation that does not lack spice.

This is how the new Smart (Smart #1 and Smart #3) are 50 % Geely and 50 % Mercedes. The design is German, but the technical heart of these models is Chinese. Smart will probably not be the only European manufacturer to bet on the technical solutions proposed by Geely.

Through a shared platform with Lotus, Alpine could have benefited, on the A110 and the future SUV. However, recent rumors indicate that the French brand would plan to develop these vehicles alone. With or without this collaboration, Geely is already well invested in the Renault group with a joint venture for the design of future Renault hybrid engines.

Geely is in full failure, with well -engaged pawns on the set. The group can now launch other attacks from the European market, which it will do with at a minimum A new brand.

Now run, Geely arrives with Zeekr

The European Premium market now no longer really has secrets for Geely. Taking advantage of this experience acquired, the group created in April 2021 a new 100 % electric Chinese brand called Zeekr. The launch was made in China, because vehicles are aimed at its local market, but the real ambition for the future is European.

The latest model launched was imagined to stick to the expectations of Europeans. Embedded technology and price positioning want to tick up Tesla in our regions. The Zeekr X will therefore be particularly interesting to observe during its beginnings in Europe.

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Geely: which is this automaker and its car with 1,000 km of autonomy that arrives in France

Geely: This Chinese group in modest beginnings has become one of the largest car manufacturers in the world in the space of only two decades. Let’s be interested in its history, but also in all the brands that now make up this great huge appetite.

Technologically competitive, cheaper, really ambitious … Chinese electric cars arrive. Chinese manufacturers have worried industry for years, they are suddenly there.

Nio, xpeng or even byd and mg. If they are mostly not yet sold in France, Chinese brands are slowly starting their invasion, when they were very numerous at the Motor of the Auto. Among these brands, Geely is everywhere. Take, precisely, the time to better know this group which seems to have an insatiable appetite.

Who is Geely and what is his story ?

Geely Automobile Holdings, This name surely says nothing to you, but it is however one of the largest car manufacturers in the world. Billionaire controlled Li shufu, Geely is one of the Chinese car manufacturers who seek to dominate the automotive industry by surfing on electrification and autonomous driving.

The group is not a recent group, it was founded 36 years ago in China, in Taizhou (Zhejiang). The real Geely started in 1994, When the founder, who was a manufacturer of refrigerators who wanted to embark on the automotive sector, bought a motorcycle manufacturer belonging to the Chinese State.

In 2010, Geely sold 400,000 vehicles “. His ascent started in the early 2000s, he enjured many acquisitions and acquisitions, but also exports all around the world.

While developing quickly in China, Geely has also bet on international expansion. However, its first acquisition is surprising. Indeed, in 2006, Geely acquired a majority participation in Bronze Manganese Holdings, which is one of the main companies that produce large black renown taxis in London.

Geely acquired Volvo Cars in 2010, the Swedish brand belonged to Ford. In 2016, Geely acquired 50 % proton, a Malaysian brand that produced around 500,000 cars every year, which was also to be a co -owner of the Lotus brand. In 2017, moreover, Geely took a majority participation in Lotus.

In 2018, after Daimler AG refused to sell a 5 % stake for approximately $ 4.5 billion, the Chinese group increased its participation to 6.6 % in Kuwait Investment Authority and 3.1 % of the Alliance Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi for an amount of $ 9 billion. With these two investments, Geely Holding Group was able to obtain 9.69 % of the Daimler GA group, which made it the main shareholder. This participation then generated the creation of a joint venture between Geely and Daimler in 2019, around the Smart brand.

More recently, the Chinese group Geely has established a collaboration with the Renault group. The two groups signed an agreement around the project Horse. It is through this entity, a co-enterprise, that the two groups will continue to develop combustion engines. The objective of this collaboration is to reduce the development costs of pure and hybrid combustion engines. Renault thus aspires to become the supplier of other groups which choose to abandon the development of thermal engines. It is also with Renault that Geely co-develops platforms based on solutions Snapdragon Digital Chassis.

In 2021, worldwide, the Geely group sold more than 2.2 million cars. It is the largest Chinese private automaker, and the Chinese car manufacturer now aims to ensure that its sales abroad represent 20 % of its total sales by 2025.

What are the brands of the Geely group ?

Volvo

First brand of the Geely group, the Swedish brand Volvo. Lately, we were able to discover the ex90. It is an imposing electric SUV that will start to be delivered at the end of 2023. The ex90 introduces a new architecture, and this is a striking step in the electrification of the group, as well as a whole new interface based on Android Automotive and propelled by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip for infotainment.

Volvo wants to make his ex90 the safest car in the world, there are therefore many sensors, such as the Lidar at the front, without forgetting the Nvidia Drive Orin chip. In addition to security functions, this set allows to supply autonomous driving on the next generation of Volvo models.

In practice, the Volvo Ex90 has autonomous level 2 driving. But the LIDAR will allow it to offer level 3 autonomous driving in the future, when the regulations and the software part will be ready.

We are now waiting for news from the ex30, which is then located under the current XC40 and C40 recharging in the range, which will undoubtedly be announced in 2023. In 2019, Volvo announced its intention to produce only electrified cars from 2040 worldwide. In France, this is already the case since September 2022. We should discover a new 100 % electric model every year.