Review of the development history of Geely Automobile Group

As an independent brand of Geely, almost every piece of news can bring a little excitement of patriotism and satisfaction of democratic pride to the Chinese people. Since Geely announced its car manufacturing in 1997, especially after China joined the WTO, companies represented by Geely have used incredible car-making methods to disrupt China's automobile industry and market structure.

Geely has dozens of complete vehicle products under three major brands: Emgrand, Global Hawk, and British. It controls the famous car brand Volvo, has a stake in Mercedes-Benz, acquired Lotus, Proton, and acquired the world's second largest transmission DSI. , with a full range of 1.0L-2.4L engines and matching manual/automatic transmissions.

In 1997, Geely started building cars from scratch. The exact time Geely obtained its automobile license was November 9, 2001, and it persisted for four years without government approval. China's accession to the WTO in 2001 gave Geely the opportunity to officially enter the stage, becoming a car manufacturer that complied with government regulations but did not receive much financial support.

Geely's corporate mission is to "make good cars that the people can afford", and low prices are its magic weapon. Since then, private enterprises represented by Geely have made difficult progress in the past 10 years. The low brand premium brought by low prices makes it always survive on the line of crisis. It is undeniable that the pressure brought by private automobile companies to multinational companies is surprising. China's automobile market has begun to enter a period of continuous price cuts.

Picture: Geely was synonymous with cheapness at that time.

Geely’s ability to build cars all comes from market competition. An easily observed characteristic that makes Geely Automobile stand out is that it always chooses to accept the existing structure and then chooses to break through it. Most state-owned enterprises hope to modify their structure and their status in the eyes of the government through integration. In Geely Holding, apart from the capital level, you can’t find any trace of family or private ownership. In the process of acquiring Volvo, Geely Holding was also able to quickly organize an enviable professional negotiation and management team.

Picture: Geely also excited the Chinese people with the launch of "China's No. 1 Runner" - Beauty Leopard.

Although our automobile industry has become the largest in the world, it has not replicated the industrial success of Japan and South Korea. However, independent brands still give us hope. Take Geely as an example. Different from being cautious when it was born, Geely is now a Fortune 500 company with a production and sales volume exceeding 100 billion and international influence. However, the corporate capabilities demonstrated by Geely Automobile have already demonstrated the possible success of Chinese automobile companies in the next 10 years.

Picture: There is also a Chinese dragon with a famous name.

Geely’s merger and acquisition is the best gift it has contributed to the automobile industry in the more than ten years since its birth. It acquired DSI, the world's second largest independent transmission supplier, in 2009. It acquired Swedish car brand Volvo in 2010 and built three production bases in China. Over the years, Geely has answered questions about China's auto industry's capability learning process from one side.

When it comes to Emgrand or Geely, the one that impressed me the most is the EC7.

The Geely Emgrand EC7 (EMGRAND EC7) achieved a 4-star safety rating in the new car safety evaluation results of the European New Car Assessment Program (Euro? New Car Assessment Program, referred to as Euro NCAP) score. This is currently the best result achieved by a Chinese car under European crash standards.

Geely surprised us by seeing some of the hopes of Chinese cars, such as independent research and development, acquisition of overseas factories, establishment of its own automotive technical school, etc. The birth of the "Geely Emgrand" brand car can be said to be a state-owned The pride of independent innovative cars, its true model reform, and the adoption of European standard design make people feel real progress in the texture and all aspects of the vehicle. The name "Emgrand" is also very impressive. Indeed, the EC718 sedan Permeated with the domineering and heroic spirit of the emperor.

The plump front of the Emgrand EC718, the tall body curve and the sporty tail are perfectly combined. The overall feeling is smooth and coordinated. After seeing those little Geelies on the street in the past, the Emgrand is amazing. It's refreshing, no matter in terms of detail processing or overall craftsmanship, it almost wipes away all the criticisms in the past. This feeling after watching it makes people feel excited.

The Geely Emgrand brand has three models: Emgrand EC7, EC7-RV and EC8. EC7 and EC7-RV are both family compact cars in the Emgrand brand. Since the birth of the Emgrand brand, Li Shufu has positioned the brand to produce high-end luxury models, and EC8 is a high-end and luxury model of the brand.

Picture: The hatchback version of EC7 is called EC7-RV.

As Geely Automobile’s high-end brand, Emgrand is more responsible for enhancing brand influence. From the launch of Emgrand’s first model EC7 to Emgrand EC8, Emgrand has gradually attracted domestic consumers with its good quality. approved by the author.

Picture: Emgrand EC8 does not have many bright spots in appearance. The whole vehicle has a full and majestic shape, quite like a business mid-size car. The large-mouth grille on the front face is paired with slightly aggressive headlights, which makes the front face shape more visually impactful.

The Global Hawk brand can be described as a "new car + minor facelift".

Picture: The Global Eagle symbolizes "vitality, breakthrough, and excitement."

On November 6, 2008, Geely officially released its new sub-brand GLEAGLE—"Global Eagle". This is an important step in Geely Automobile's strategic transformation and brand strategy transformation. At the 2008 Guangzhou Auto Show, Geely Panda was officially launched as the first model under the "Global Hawk" brand.

Picture: As Geely’s first classic car, the Geely Panda is the world’s second bionic car after the Beetle. Its stylish appearance and classic styling made the Geely Panda a hot spot in the market as soon as it was launched.

While Panda pursues design classics, the Geely Panda R&D team adheres to Geely’s purpose of building the safest, most energy-saving, and most environmentally friendly cars, abandoning the simple safety design and low configuration in the development of traditional mini cars and small cars. It adopts advanced practices and takes the lead in implementing system safety engineering in the field of self-owned brand small cars. Therefore, Geely Panda became the "King of Safety" among cars with an excellent score of 45.3 points in the CNCAP test, becoming the first independent brand car to receive a five-star score. Geely Panda also became the safest car in China.

Picture: Geely’s new Vision replaces the Global Hawk logo and is now included in the Global Hawk family.

After being incorporated into the Global Hawk brand, New Vision will seize the low-end compact car market with a lower starting price and lower maintenance costs. The new Vision continues to use the design and layout of the old model, but the workmanship and texture have been further improved. In order to increase its competitiveness, in terms of configuration, tire pressure monitoring systems, electric sunroofs, leather steering wheels, leather seats, GPS navigation, automatic air conditioning and other configurations will appear on new models.

Global Hawk GX2 is Global Hawk's crossover style model. Global Hawk GX2 is developed based on Geely Panda. The car's appearance dimensions are 3813/1630/1530mm and the wheelbase is 2340mm. , with a cute and fashionable appearance and very low fuel consumption, it is one of the outstanding independent cars.

Picture: GX2 and Panda still have a high degree of similarity.

The Global Hawk GC7 is the high-end model of the Global Hawk. The biggest highlight of this model is that it is equipped with the first 6-speed automatic manual transmission with independent intellectual property rights. This transmission is matched with the Emgrand The 1.8L naturally aspirated engine equipped on the EC7? 1.8L model has a maximum power of 98Kw and a peak torque of 170N?m.

Picture: The hawk-eye design, shield-shaped front grille and inverted U-shaped design of the central air intake of the lower bumper make the front face full of dominance.

Picture: In addition, there is the GX7, an SUV model that is very popular among Chinese people.

In April 2009, following the "Global Hawk" and "Emgrand" brands, the last and most high-end Geely brand transformation strategy - the "Shanghai Yinglun" brand was officially launched. Shanghai Yinglun symbolizes "classic, British and aristocratic". In 2006, Geely Group signed an agreement with the British Manganese Bronze Group to jointly produce the Shanghai British TX4 classic commercial vehicle in Shanghai. The TX4 series has a history of more than 60 years in the UK and is a famous British brand as famous as Rolls-Royce and Bentley. The designated car for the British royal family, the courtesy car for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and the designated car for the 2012 London Olympics.

During the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Paralympics, the Shanghai British TX4 fleet, which was put into operation in Beijing, provided high-quality and high-standard services to Chinese and foreign guests.

Speaking of British cars, we have to mention the most British-style car owned by British cars, the TX4. The TX4 is now produced in China by British Motors in the form of SKD (semi-knockdown). Before that, it was produced by LTI (London Taxis International) and imported into the country in small quantities. This can explain why the TX4 has a British flavor. As the name suggests, the TX4 is targeting the taxi market in the UK.

Picture: Now we can also see this exotic taxi on the street.

The British SC5-RV is a hatchback from Geely's British brand. It was designed by Italian designer Giugiaro and has a strong British style. Its configurations are quite rich, and all models are equipped with ABS+EBD, rear child seat fixtures, rear door child safety locks, electric rearview mirrors, GPS navigation and other configurations. The high-end version adds dual airbags with aluminum alloy wheels, speed-sensitive automatic door locking system, anti-theft alarm device, reversing radar and other functions.

Picture: The British SC5-RV, a small car with a price of 50,000 yuan and a configuration of 100,000 yuan, is indeed very attractive.

The British SC7 (Seaview) will be equipped with the DSI 6-speed automatic manual transmission for the first time after Geely acquired the Australian DSI transmission. Among domestic passenger cars equipped with automatic transmissions, 80% of the automatic transmissions are imported, and 20% are from joint ventures. Independent brands are almost blank in terms of automatic transmissions. Except for a few visible 4ATs and CVTs, no better independent automatic transmissions have been seen yet. Although Geely acquired the world's second largest automatic transmission company through acquisition, it can be said to have filled this gap and will have a great impact on lowering the price of automatic transmission models in the future. The British SC7 is the first independent model equipped with an "autonomous" automatic transmission.

Picture: Geely Yinglun SC7 is equipped with DSI's 6-speed manual transmission, providing consumers with a rich selection of models. The new automatic model has smoother shifting, can save fuel, and can Strengthen its competitiveness among cars of the same class.

After Geely acquired Volvo, it continued to insist that Geely is Geely and Volvo is Volvo’s highest principle. Volvo now implements a set of quality standards, a set of R&D technology systems, and a set of management assessment standards globally to achieve localized R&D, localized production, and localized sales goals in China, and comprehensively enhance Volvo Cars' global competitiveness. . At that time, the S40 and S80L were produced in Changan Volvo.

Picture: S40 is a hybrid between Geely and Volvo.

Geely is a popular car brand, while Volvo is a high-end luxury car brand. This may be because Volvo's local R&D, production and sales will not be related to Geely in the future, and it will increase domestic consumers' trust in Volvo.

Picture: The long-wheelbase S80 is also produced by Changan Volvo.

On November 6, 1986, Li Shufu started Geely’s entrepreneurial journey with refrigerator accessories.

In 1989, it switched to the production of high-end decorative materials and developed the first Chinese-made magnesium-aluminum curved plate.

In 1994, it entered the motorcycle industry and built China's first luxury scooter that year.

In May 1996, Geely Group Co., Ltd. was established and embarked on the path of large-scale development.

In 1997, it entered the automobile industry and became China's first private car company.

On August 8, 1998, the first Geely car of the Geely Group rolled off the production line in Linhai City, Zhejiang Province, marking the first time for China's privately-built cars to be produced.

In 2001, Geely Group officially obtained the national automobile announcement.

In 2002, it entered the national automobile 3+6? ranks and ranked among the top ten in the automobile industry. Geely hired professional managers and began to transform from a family-owned enterprise to a modern joint-stock enterprise.

On March 24, 2003, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd., which is mainly engaged in the development of Geely Group's automobile industry, was established.

In August 2003, the first batch of Geely cars were exported overseas, achieving "zero breakthrough" in Geely car exports.

In 2004, Geely Holding Group began process reengineering, established a governance structure with an operation and management committee responsibility system under the leadership of the board of directors, and launched a comprehensive informatization construction.

In May 2005, Geely was successfully listed in Hong Kong (0175?HK), taking an important step on the road to internationalization.

On September 12, 2005, Geely Automobile debuted at the 61st Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany, achieving a historic breakthrough for a Chinese independent automobile brand to participate in the world's top auto show in the past century.

On October 24, 2006, Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Group, represented Geely Automobile Holdings Co., Ltd., a company listed in Hong Kong (0175HK), Shanghai Maple, and British Manganese Bronze Holdings Company at the Royal Garden Hotel in London, England. (MBH) officially signed an agreement to jointly produce famous brand taxis, breaking the usual practice of Sino-foreign joint ventures in the past and opening a new page in Sino-foreign joint ventures in car manufacturing. Jia Qinglin, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and Baroness Amos, Leader of the House of Lords and President of the Privy Council, attended the signing ceremony.

On January 23, 2007, the Ukrainian SKD project was officially launched. The first batch of 300 sets of KD parts has been shipped, achieving a breakthrough in Geely Automobile's overseas production. On May 18, 2007, Geely announced to the industry that it had entered a strategic transformation period, becoming the first Chinese automobile company to announce that it had entered a strategic transformation period.

On January 13, 2008, Geely and BMBS appeared at the 2008 North American International Auto Show and won the "Special Contribution Award for Invention and Creation Practice".

On August 25, 2008, the British government and the London Investment Authority's "Journey to London" was officially launched in Beijing. The first TX4 produced by British Dihua Company was transformed by the British into a "Mobile Ambassador" "To promote the 2012 London Olympics.

In 2008, Geely launched a multi-brand strategy.

In 2008, China’s first automobile and vehicle master’s and doctoral graduate school—Zhejiang Institute of Technology.

In March 2009, the "Make the World Full of Geely" green action launching ceremony and "Green Volunteer" solicitation event were held at the group's Hangzhou headquarters; in the same month, the group was recognized as the "China Green Company Star 2008" Benchmark enterprise".

On March 27, 2009, Geely successfully acquired Australia's DSI, the world's second largest automatic transmission company.

On December 4, 2009, Geely Group was awarded the 2009 "China's Most Respected Enterprise" award.

On September 23, 2009, Hong Kong-Geely Automobile Holdings Co., Ltd. (Hong Kong Stock Exchange Code: 175, Geely or the Company) announced the signing of an agreement with Goldman Sachs Capital Partners (GSCP). GSCP will subscribe through Convertible bonds and warrants invest in Geely. Geely will receive HK$2.586 billion (contract US$330 million) after the issuance of convertible bonds and the full exercise of the warrants.

On January 11, 2010, the "Technological System Innovation Engineering Construction for Geely's Strategic Transformation" project won the second prize of the China Science and Technology Progress Award (the first prize was vacant). ?On August 2, 2010, Geely Group Chairman Li Shufu, Ford Chief Financial Officer Louis Booth and others attended the delivery signing ceremony held in London, England. Geely completed the acquisition of all shares of Volvo Car Company, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company.

On February 17, 2011, the famous British 48 Group Club awarded Geely Group the "2010 European Most Influential Investment Award".

On July 9, 2012, Geely was shortlisted for the "2012 Fortune Global 500" released globally by Fortune Chinese.com, jumping 213 places from last year's 688th to 475th. [1]

On August 30, 2012, the "Top 500 Chinese Private Enterprises 2012" sponsored by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce was announced. Geely ranked sixth, ranking first among the Zhejiang companies on the list, with total revenue for the first time More than 100 billion, entering the ranks of hundreds of billions of enterprises.

The European New Car Assessment Program (Euro? New Car Assessment Program, Euro NCAP for short) released the final new car safety assessment results for 2011 on its official website.

The Chinese car brand Geely Emgrand EC7 (EMGRAND? EC7) achieved a 4-star safety rating (the highest possible score is 5 stars).

This is currently the best result achieved by a Chinese car under European crash standards. In the past few years, Jiangling and Brilliance's cars have undergone crash tests to enter the European market, and the scores were only 2 to 3 stars.

Since 2012, it has started selling new cars in the UK. Its long-term rivals are Korean brands Hyundai and Kia. The export model chosen by Geely is the Emgrand EC7.

On July 9, 2012, the 2012 Fortune Global 500 list was released. Geely Holding Group entered the Fortune Global 500 for the first time with operating income of US$23.3557 billion (approximately 150 billion yuan).

On February 1, 2013, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group announced the acquisition of 100% equity of British Manganese Bronze Holdings, acquiring all of the latter's business and core assets at a cost of 11.04 million pounds.

On December 15, 2014, Geely’s epoch-making first mid- to high-end sedan, Geely Borui, was released globally.

On October 27, 2015, the 1.8TD engine was successfully shortlisted for the "China Heart" Top Ten Engines in 2015.

On October 20, 2016, Geely Automobile released the new brand LYNK?&?CO in Berlin.

On November 5, 2016, at the 30th anniversary celebration party of Geely Holding Group, Geely Auto Group officially released the "Geely Automobile 20200 Strategy", planning to achieve annual production and sales of 2 million vehicles by 2020. The strategic goal is to become the most competitive and respected Chinese automobile brand.

On May 10, 2017, Geely officially launched the "iNTEC Humanized Intelligent Driving Technology" technology brand, and set May 10 every year as Geely Automobile Technology Open Day. "iNTEC Humanized Intelligent Driving Technology" is Geely Automobile's automotive driving technology solution built with humanization as the core, integrating global intelligent technology, and adapting to the intelligent era. ?iNTEC has constructed the technical path for Geely Automobile’s future development and will promote the in-depth development of Geely Automobile Group’s “20200” strategy.

The "iN" in the iNTEC brand label represents intelligence, integration and trend (INTrend), and "TEC" represents technology; "iNTEC humanized intelligent driving technology" Including "efficient power technology G-POWER", "human-oriented safety technology G-Safety", "intelligent driving technology G-Pilot", "healthy ecological technology G-Blue", "intelligent interconnected driving technology G-Netlink", etc. It is the core technology module of the automotive industry, and the technical content modules covered by iNTEC will be gradually upgraded with the advancement of technology.

On June 23, 2017, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group signed a final agreement with Malaysian DRB-HICOM Group (hereinafter referred to as "DRB") to acquire 49.9% of the shares of PROTON, a subsidiary of DRB-HICOM. and a 51% stake in the luxury sports car brand Lotus.

On August 4, 2017, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Geely Automobile Holdings Co., Ltd., and Volvo Car Group formally signed an agreement at Geely Automobile’s Hangzhou Bay R&D Center to establish a Lynk & Co Automobile joint venture. After the establishment of the new company, Geely Automobile will own 50% of Lynk & Co Automobile's shares, Volvo Cars will own 30% of the shares, and Geely Holding Group will own 20% of the shares.

On November 13, 2017, Geely Automobile announced that it had reached a final agreement with the American Terrafugia Flying Car Company to acquire all of Terrafugia’s business and assets. The transaction has been approved by all relevant regulatory authorities, including the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

On December 27, 2017, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (hereinafter referred to as Geely Holding) announced that it had reached an agreement with the European fund company Cevian Capital (hereinafter referred to as Cevian) to acquire its holdings of AB Volvo ) 88.47 million A shares and 78.77 million B shares. After the completion of the project, Geely Holding will own 8.2% of Volvo Group's equity, becoming its largest shareholder and possessing 15.6% of the voting rights.

On February 24, 2018, Geely Group Co., Ltd. (owned by Li Shufu and managed by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd.) announced that it had acquired 9.69% of Daimler AG’s voting rights through its overseas corporate entities. shares.

On May 28, 2018, based on the "Blue Geely Action" new energy development strategy and inheriting "iNTEC humanized intelligent driving technology", Geely officially released the new energy power system - Zhiqing, It covers four major technology paths: pure electric technology, hybrid technology, alternative fuels and hydrogen fuel cells. ?

On April 11, 2019, Geely Automobile Group’s pure electric brand Geometry was officially released. The Geometry brand is positioned as a “high-end pure electric brand” and is committed to creating “the first choice for pure electric travel for global users” brand".

On July 3, 2019, Baidu and Geely reached a strategic cooperation? Geely cars will be equipped with Xiaodu vehicle interactive system?

On September 9, 2019, Geely (00175), Daimler invested 50 million euros in German flying cars and will set up a joint venture in China.

On April 23, 2019, the signing ceremony for the official automotive service partner of the 19th Asian Games in 2022 and the press conference for the launch of Geely Automobile’s Asian Games strategy were held at the Hangzhou International Expo Center. Geely Automobile officially signed a contract with the Organizing Committee of the 19th Asian Games to become the official automotive service partner of the Hangzhou Asian Games, and officially launched the Asian Games strategy with the theme of "Geely Technology, Happy Traveling to the Asian Games". As the first Chinese automobile brand to sponsor a large-scale international comprehensive sports event, Geely Automobile will use green technology, smart technology, humanistic responsibility and other measures to realize fully autonomous driving and other smart travel life scenarios in the region in 2022, and fully empower Hangzhou Asian Games.

On November 2, 2019, Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Holding Group, said at the Qiantang River Forum held in Hangzhou that Geely and Daimler jointly built the high-end travel project - Mercedes-Benz Yao Travel It will be put into operation in Hangzhou by the end of this year.

On the evening of February 10, 2020, Geely Automobile announced that the company’s management is having preliminary discussions with Volvo Cars’ management to explore the possibility of restructuring through the business combination of the two companies (proposed transaction) After the reorganization, Volvo Cars’ assets will be included in Geely Automobile’s Hong Kong-listed company, and a listing in Sweden will be considered in the future.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.