Geely

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd
Holding company
Industry Automotive
Founded Taizhou, Zhejiang, China (1986)
Founder Li Shufu
Headquarters 1760 Jiangling Road, Binjiang District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Number of locations
 China
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Li Shufu (Chairman)
Yang Jian (President)
Products Automobiles, motorcycles, engines, transmissions
Revenue Decrease RMB 21,738,358,000 (USD 3.3 billion), 2014[1]
Decrease RMB 1,449,128,000 (USD 220 million), 2014[1]
Number of employees
 18,481[1]
Subsidiaries
Website geely.com
Geely
Simplified Chinese 吉利控股集团
Traditional Chinese 吉利控股集團

Geely (officially Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd) is a Chinese multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. Its principal products are automobiles, taxis, motorcycles, engines, and transmissions. It sells passenger cars under the Geely and Volvo brands and taxis under the London Taxi brand.[2]

Geely has owned the Swedish passenger car maker Volvo Cars since 2010, when it acquired the company from Ford. It has owned the British taxi maker The London Taxi Company since 2012.

Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd (Chinese: 吉利汽车; pinyin: Jílì Qìchē) (SEHK: 0175), a subsidiary of Geely, is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.[3]

Name

Geely (Chinese: 吉利; pinyin: Jílì) means "auspicious" or "lucky" in Mandarin Chinese.[4]

History

Founding Geely in 1986 as a refrigerator maker with money borrowed from family,[4] Li Shufu transformed the company into a successful private automaker selling inexpensive products to Chinese consumers.[5] A pioneer private Chinese automaker, in 2003 it remained the only domestic car manufacturer to lack ties to the Chinese state,[6] although another indigenous, politically independent automaker, BYD Auto, was rising around this time.[7] (Great Wall Motors may be considered another Chinese automaker less burdened with ties to the state.[7])

This Geely LC (sold as the Geely Panda in China) sports the "cross" trim level.

After the purchase of a failing, state-run firm,[8] Geely manufactured motorcycles in the mid-1990s.[9] Small van production began in 1998,[10] and a year later, Geely received state approval to manufacture automobiles.[10] Car production began in 2002.[5] The company had its IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2004.[3]

Between 2006 and 2008, Geely expressed its desire to sell in the EU and United States markets, and in pursuit of this goal, presented at the 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show.[11] It followed with a 2006 showing at the Detroit auto show.[4] Export to the EU and United States was postponed, but the company has recently started EU sales.

Geely approached Ford in mid-2008 about a possible takeover of Volvo Cars. On October 28, 2009, Geely was named as the preferred buyer of Volvo by the American automaker.[12] A deal was reached in late March and completed in early August, 2010.[13]

In 2010, total sales of over 415,000 units gave the company a near 2% market share.[14] Sales were lower than a reported 680,000 units per year production capacity.[15]

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.[16][17] The company has also stated its intention to begin sales in Italy.[18]

Operations

Research and development

In 2007, Geely applied for approximately 120 intellectual property rights. One-third were patents and two-thirds were utility models. In comparison to patents, utility models are cheaper and less research-intensive. Since 2005, the patent and utility model applications nearly doubled. From 2005 to 2006, it quintupled.[19]

Production facilities

Part of an assembly line at a Geely plant in Ningbo, China, can be seen here.

Headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Geely has production bases in Lanzhou, Gansu (completed in 2006,[20] Geely construction in the region continued as of August 2010[21] either for expanding the existing facility[20] or for a new semi-complete knock-down factory[22]); Xiangtan, Hunan;[23] an unnamed location 40 minutes south of Shanghai;[24] Jinan, Shandong province;[20] and at Linhai, Luqiao, and Ningbo, in Zhejiang.[3]

As of 2011, two Volvo manufacturing plants were planned in Daqing and Chengdu,[25] and work on a transmissions-making factory in Tongliang, Chongqing had been initiated.[26]

At least four overseas factories assemble Geely models[27] probably from semi-complete or complete knock-down kits. Such facilities are or have been located in Indonesia,[27] (some of its production has been imported back to China),[28] Sri Lanka (in collaboration with Micro Cars),[29][30] Malaysia,[27] Russia, (assembly is controlled by local firm Derways),[31] and Ukraine.[27] These locations are not necessarily affiliated with or owned by Geely.

Manganese Bronze

Establishing a joint venture with this British maker of London Black Cabs in 2007, Geely purchased Manganese Bronze Holdings, now trading as The London Taxi Company, in 2013.[32]

The joint venture, Shanghai LTI Automobile Components Co Ltd, made the TX4, a licensed London Black Cab,[33] in Fengjing, Shanghai,[34] and exported semi-complete knock-down kits for assembly in the UK.[33]

Drivetrain Systems International

In 2009, Geely bought Drivetrain Systems International Pty Ltd,[35] a global transmission developer headquartered in Australia.

Products

Passenger cars

Geely sells passenger cars under two marques: Geely and, through its Swedish Volvo Cars subsidiary, Volvo.[36] Some Geely passenger cars include engine technology from Robert Bosch GmbH[37] and seat belts from Autoliv.[38]

Many of Geely's early products were based on the Xiali TJ7300, a variant of the 1987 Daihatsu Charade. Models such as the Haoqing (豪情) (five-door), Merrie (美日) (five-door), Uliou (优利欧) (four-door), and Urban Nanny (van and pick-up truck) have Charade bases, but feature a more prominent chromed grille.

A sense of humor imbues the names of some Geely vehicles. One sedan is called the "King Kong", and an early model was named You Li Ou,[5] a play on words that means "better than the Tianjin Xiali or the Buick Sail", two of its competitors.[39]

Geely marque products

A Geely MK/LG King Kong
2010 Geely MK (New Zealand)

Geely marque products include:

Discontinued brands

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[41] alongside efforts to reduce sprawl,[42] and the Shanghai Maple brand name was discontinued in 2010.[43]

Emgrand
Main article: Emgrand
An Emgrand EC7

Emgrand (Chinese: 帝豪; pinyin: Dìháo) was launched in 2009 as a medium to high-end luxury brand.[44]

Products sold under the Emgrand brand included:

Englon
An Englon SC5-RV

Launched in 2010[46] and replacing the Shanghai Maple brand,[43] 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.[47] Some of its cars were built by Geely subsidiary Shanghai LTI.[48] As Geely fully acquired The London Taxi Company in 2013, the emblem of Englon also became the new logo of The London Taxi Company.[49]

Gleagle
Here, the former Gleagle logo can be seen on a Geely LC, which also sold under that brand name.

Gleagle (Chinese: 全球鹰; pinyin: Quánqiú Yīng) is touted as an entry-level brand.[50]

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.[51][52] 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.[53]

Products sold under the Gleagle brand included:

A Gleagle GC7

Gleagle products include:

Shanghai Maple
Main article: Shanghai Maple

This brand name was affiliated with Shanghai Maple Automobile, a Geely subsidiary established in 1999.[57] It was replaced by the Englon brand in 2010.[43]

Products sold under the Shanghai Maple brand included:

Motorcycles

Geely manufactures a number of motor scooters and motorcycles from 50 to 250 cc displacement.

Dealer network

Geely refers to its dealer network as 4S stores and also sells some models online.[53] In 2014, it had a reported 900 retail outlets.[42]

Sales

A Geely MK in Singapore. 770 Geely cars were on Singaporean roads in 2010.[59]

In addition to China, Geely vehicles are sold in Australia,[60] Brazil,[61] Bahrain,[62] Chile,[63] Colombia,[64] Costa Rica,[65] Egypt,[66] Indonesia,[67] Iran,[68] Kuwait,[69] Nepal,[70] New Zealand,[71] Nigeria,[72] Oman,[73] Pakistan, Romania,[74] Russia,[75] Saudi Arabia,[76] South Africa,[77] Syria,[78] Taiwan,[79] Turkey,[80] Ukraine,[81] Uruguay,[82] and Venezuela.[83] In a number of markets, Geely vehicles are assembled in local factories from complete knock-down kits.

Cuba's government has purchased a considerable number of Geely vehicles, and they are pressed into service as police patrol cars[8] or tourist taxis throughout Havana.[84][85]

In 2010, Geely surpassed its projected 400,000-vehicle sales target for the year selling 415,286 units[86] of its 680,000 units/year production capacity,[35] prompting the company to set its 2011 sales target at 480,000, a 16% increase.[86] That year, 15,596,100 units (7,793,600 passenger vehicles) were sold in China,[87] giving Geely a 2.66% market share. Geely has announced its ambitions to double its market share in China to 5.8% by 2015.[88]

Safety record

A small Geely sedan, the CK, performed badly in an informal crash test conducted by a Russian magazine in 2007.[89] As a result, Geely reviewed its global export plans.[90] A 2009 1.3-liter Geely CK 1 model without airbags earned a zero-star rating in a Latin-NCAP crash test on protecting adult occupants in front seats.[91]

In 2010, the Geely LC scored 45.3 points of a possible 51 in the China-NCAP crash tests, making it China's first locally researched and developed mini car to be awarded a 5-star rating,[92] and the safest Chinese hatchback[93] as of 2011.[94]

In 2011, the Geely Emgrand EC7 earned a 4-star rating in a Euro-NCAP crash test.[95]

Controversies

The Geely GE has received criticism for looking like a Rolls-Royce[96] and the LC, a Citroën C1 produced since 2005 (or even a Toyota Aygo[97]).

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".[98] Geely may also have used a logo that resembled that of Toyota.[99]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Annual report, 2014, page 2.
  2. ↑ "Shedding its skin". Global Times. 31 December 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 "About Geely". Geely.
  4. 1 2 3 "SPECIAL REPORT-Saving Volvo:Geely buys brand and management test". Reuters. 2010-07-22.
  5. 1 2 3 McGregor, R. (2002, Apr 02). "Geely gears up china's first home-grown car". Financial Times.
  6. ↑ McGregor, R. (2003, Nov 07). "Local investors fear china's car policy will set entry barriers high." Financial Times.
  7. 1 2 Crystal Chang (2010-04-07). "The Emergence of the Independent Chinese Auto Industry". Political Science Department, UC Berkley.
  8. 1 2 "China's lucky man bags Volvo". The Economist. 2010-08-05.
  9. ↑ "Geely Automobiles". Al Hashar Group of Companies.
  10. 1 2 "Milestones". Geely.
  11. ↑ "China's Geely debuts at Frankfurt car show". People's Daily. 2005-09-13.
  12. ↑ "Ford set to offload Volvo to Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely". The Guardian. 2009-10-28.
  13. ↑ "Ford reaches agreement to sell Volvo cars and related assets to Geely". Ford Motor Company. 2010-03-28.
  14. ↑ "Geely Automobile last year net profit of 1.368 billion yuan year-on-year increase of 16%". China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. March 28, 2011. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  15. ↑ Leung, Alison (Nov 12, 2010). "China Geely on track to meet target". Thompson Reuters. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Geely cars to be sold in the UK". The Telegraph. 2011-12-05.
  17. ↑ "Geely to come to UK in 2012". What Car?. 2011-12-05.
  18. ↑ "Geely to launch in Italy in 2012". China Car Times. 2012-01-03.
  19. ↑ "Geely: Unternehmensprofil, F&E, Patente, Wachstum, IP | Chinese Champions". Chinese-champions.de. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
  20. 1 2 3 "Geely gets in high gear". Global Times. 2010-01-20.
  21. ↑ "Geely Group donated 1 million yuan to Zhouqu". Global Times. 2010-08-16.
  22. ↑ "Chinese Vice Premier speaks highly of Geely's investment in Lanzhou". Global Times. 2010-07-14.
  23. ↑ "Zhou Tienong inspects Geely's Xiangtan plant". Geely. 2010-06-10.
  24. ↑ "Shanghaied: Things are going awry for foreign carmakers in China". The Economist. 2005-04-21.
  25. ↑ Shirouzu, N. (2011, Jun 24). "Geely sets second volvo china plant". Wall Street Journal (Online),
  26. ↑ "Geely starts work on new transmission system project". Gasgoo. 2011-12-22.
  27. 1 2 3 4 "Geely mulling production in Turkey". Global Times. 2010-10-21.
  28. ↑ "Geely to invest $30 million in Indonesia". Global Times. 2009-06-26.
  29. ↑ "Handing over 1st Batch of PANDAs to customers". Micro Cars. 2011-02-28.
  30. ↑ "New Micro Sedan from GEELY". Micro Cars. 2010-04-30.
  31. ↑ "China automaker Geely inaugurates assembly line in Russia". Global Times. 2010-01-18.
  32. ↑ For 2007 joint venture, see Tracey Tong, Angel YY Yeung (7 September 2007). "Geely Automobile Holdings Limited Announced Interim Results for the Six Months Ended 30 June 2007 Net Profit Declined by 32% to HKD82 million" (PDF). Jovian Communications. Geely. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  33. 1 2 "Shanghai LTI Starts Supplying SKD TX4 to the UK". ChinaAutoWeb. 2010-08-25.
  34. ↑ "British icon on wheels made in China". China Daily. China Daily Information Co. 2008-09-05. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
  35. 1 2 "China Geely on track to meet target". Reuters. 2010-11-12.
  36. ↑ "Our Business". Geely.
  37. ↑ "Focus". Geely.
  38. ↑ "Autoliv starts building new factory in China". Gasgoo. 2011-04-04.
  39. ↑ "The Little Car Company That Can?". BloombergBusinessweek. June 16, 2002. Retrieved July 25, 2012. Please note that the Xiali is based on a Daihatsu Charade, so while this article refers to a "Toyota Charade" they really mean the Chinese-market version of the Daihatsu Charade, which was popular in China
  40. ↑ "Micro Cars Limited". Microcars.lk. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
  41. ↑ Behrmann, Elisabeth (16 December 2014). "Volvo Cars Billionaire Owner Revamps Chinese Brand Geely". Bloomberg Business. Bloomberg LP. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  42. 1 2 SAMUEL SHEN AND NORIHIKO SHIROUZU (18 April 2014). "China's Geely to consolidate branding, sales". reuters.com. Thompson Reuters. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  43. 1 2 3 "Englon brand to get major boost in 2011". China Car Times. 2010-11-29.
  44. ↑ "Geely Emgrand brand-----to build new image of automobile in China". Geely. 2009-07-28.
  45. ↑ "Geely Releases All-New Emgrand Mid-Size Sedan: EC8". ChinaAutoWeb.com.
  46. ↑ "Geely to launch Englon brand". Global Times. 2010-04-14.
  47. ↑ "The first user of Shanghai Englon TX4 came out into view in Shanghai Auto Show". Geely.
  48. ↑ "Geely Releases All-New Englon SC5-RV Subcompact". ChinaAutoWeb.
  49. ↑ "Geely Releases All-New Englon SC5-RV Subcompact". ChinaAutoWeb. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  50. ↑ "Short Torque". China Daily. 2010-12-06.
  51. ↑ "China's Geely opens online car store on Taobao". Reuters. 2010-12-06.
  52. ↑ "China's Geely now selling cars online". China Daily. 2010-12-07.
  53. 1 2 "Geely nets online store". China Daily. 2010-12-08.
  54. ↑ "Geely Releases Panda Crossover: Gleagle GX2 Supermini". ChinaAutoWeb.com.
  55. ↑ "2011 Geely CK Launched under the Gleagle Brand, Prices Starting from $6,150". ChinaAutoWeb.com. 2011-06-30.
  56. ↑ "全球鹰GC7 1.8L DVVT-AT 豪华型 购车订金" [Deposit for Chinese luxury car Gleagle GC7 1.8L DVVT-AT]. 天猫tmall.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 2012-10-19.
  57. ↑ 华普品牌介绍 [Brand Introduction of Shanghai Maple] (in Chinese). Geely Holding Group. Archived from the original on 2009-04-20.
  58. ↑ Maple Haixuan: What Chinese Women Want?, Edmunds.com, March 10, 2006
  59. ↑ "Total Car Population By Make" (PDF). lta.gov.sg.
  60. ↑ "Geely MK now Australia's cheapest car". The Sunday Times. 2011-01-05.
  61. ↑ "Geely Motors do Brasil". Retrieved 2014-03-26.
  62. ↑ "Mannai Motors is a Bahraini Establishment specialized in trading in Automobiles". Mannai Motors.
  63. ↑ "Geely's Boundless Care for Earthquake-hit Chile". Geely.
  64. ↑ "Geely Colombia". Geely Colombia. Retrieved 2013-09-02.
  65. ↑ "Geely Costa Rica". Dragon Motors Costa Rica. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  66. ↑ "Geely Egypt". Retrieved 2013-10-08.
  67. ↑ "Geely Indonesia". Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  68. ↑ "Geely". Al Khayyat Motors Group. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  69. ↑ "Kuwait Automotive Imports Company :GEELY – THE GLOBAL CAR FROM CHINA NOW IN KUWAIT".
  70. ↑ "Geely Nepal". Saakha & Universal Autmobiles Pvt Ltd. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  71. ↑ "Geely NZ". Geely New Zealand. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  72. ↑ "Beijing Auto Show is Geely's Strategic Point of Blow-out". Geely. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  73. ↑ "Geely Automobiles". Al Hashar Group. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  74. ↑ "Geely Automobile Romania". Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  75. ↑ "Geely's CKD Assembling of MK Launches in Russia". Geely. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  76. ↑ "Haji Husein Alireza & Co. Ltd.".
  77. ↑ "Geely SA". Geely South Africa. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  78. ↑ "GEELY Awarded as "Best China's Automobile Brand in the Syrian Market"". Geely. 2009-07-30.
  79. ↑ "Tobe M'car Makes a Splash in Taibei". Geely. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  80. ↑ "Turkey Welcomes Geely's Manufacturing". Geely. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  81. ↑ "Geely Украина" (in Russian). AIS Group. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  82. ↑ "Geely – Gruppo Fiancar". Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  83. ↑ "Geely de Venezuela". Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  84. ↑ ""Geely" Prevails in Cuba's Street". Geely. 2010-02-06.
  85. ↑ "Geely car models three large-scale exports of Cuban exports". Agile News. 2011-10-25.
  86. 1 2 Leung, Alison (2011-01-11). Lewis, Chris, ed. "UPDATE 1-Geely shares up after 2010 sales beat target". Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  87. ↑ "China Car Market 101: Who Makes All Those 18 Million Cars?". The Truth About Cars. 2011-01-19.
  88. ↑ "CHINA: Geely looks to double market share within five years". just-auto.com. 2010-12-03. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  89. ↑ Овария (in Russian). Авторевю (Autoreview). October 2007. Retrieved 2012-10-05.
  90. ↑ "The home team:Indigenous carmakers are working their way up". The Economist. 2008-11-13. Retrieved 2012-10-05.
  91. ↑ "Geely CK Gets Zero-Star Latin-NCAP Rating". ChinaAutoWeb.
  92. ↑ "US Geely's growth: Appliances to autos in 13 years". China Daily. 2010-05-04.
  93. ↑ "Five Star in Collision Test: Geely Panda Appraised as the safest Minicar in China". Geely. 2010-01-09.
  94. ↑ "Auto Special: Safety test proves Geely has the right path to improved performance and competitiveness". China Daily. 2011-01-14.
  95. ↑ "Geely Emgrand EC7". Euro-NCAP. 2012-03-01.
  96. ↑
  97. ↑ "JAC also planning Toyota Aygo mini car". China Car Times. 2009-02-05.
  98. ↑ 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.
  99. ↑ JAMES MACKINTOSH AND, R. M. (2003). "Carmakers gamble on china". Financial Times.

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