GEELY Holding Group (Geely) has announced details of a five-year strategic blueprint it says will strengthen top-level coordination and global collaboration to become a leader among global auto-makers.
The parent brand of automotive manufacturers that include Benelli, Farizon, Zeekr, Geely Auto, Keeway, London EV Company, Lotus, Lynk & Co, Polestar, Proton, QJ Motor, Radar Auto, Smart, Volvo Cars – and significant stake holder of Aston Martin and Renault’s Horse Powertrain – says it aims to achieve global sales of more than 6.5 million vehicles annually by 2030, producing revenue exceeding 1 trillion RMB ($A204.5b).
With its sights on the new energy vehicle market, Geely says it aims to become a top-five player in the global market, with 75 per cent of all vehicles produced headed to export markets, and covering a broad range of vehicle types across the A- to E-model classification.
Reductions in R&D times, new platforms, and reduced costs will assist Geely in becoming more competitive at scale, its “One Geely” global brand matrix to further “strengthen the Geely corporate brand” while fully leveraging the strength of its growing list of subsidiaries and joint ventures.
“Geely Holding will fully leverage the brand advantages of Geely Auto, Geely Galaxy, Lynk & Co, and Zeekr, giving full play to their home advantage and access to localised operational capabilities of global brands such as Volvo, Polestar, and Lotus in the European and American markets,” it said in a statement.
“In addition, the Group will work with international partners such as Renault Group to create a new paradigm of open collaborative and mutually beneficial brand cooperation.”
Over the next four years, Geely will centre its efforts on what it describes as a “Seven Dimension” approach, centred upon a technological ecosystem encompassing intelligent driving, intelligent cockpit, E/E (electrical and electronic) architecture, vehicle architecture, battery, electric drive, and super hybrid powertrains suggesting a strengthened push into the new energy vehicle market.
Geely says it will develop the “world’s most advanced intelligent driving technology platform”, achieving full coverage of L2 assisted driving while “rapidly advancing” L3 and L4 capabilities.
New fuels and combustion engine technologies are also on Geely’s radar, its next generation NordThor AI hybrid engine expected to achieve a thermal efficiency figure of over 50 per cent, far exceeding current market norms.
Safety – including active, passive, and battery safety priorities will likewise be further strengthened, Geely saying it aims to “accelerate the evolution of safety from single vehicles to an entire ecosystem encompassing people, vehicles, roads, cloud, and space”.
The last point in that statement is one that has certainly piqued the attention of other global car manufacturers, no doubt including Tesla. Geely says it is working to accelerate the development of an integrated spare-air-ground ecosystem developed alongside Chinese firms Qianli Technology, Cao Cao Mobility, Aerofugia, and Geespace to offer coverage across major cities in China, providing self-driving technology and Mobility Robotaxis both at home – and eventually overseas.
The Chinese conglomerate is also working on a methanol-hydrogen electric vehicle ecosystem it says has already proved itself via a fleet of “over 50,000” vehicles already in operation. It is a fuel type Geely says can be modified to power automobiles, ships, mining machinery, construction machinery, generators, and other fields, particularly those in remote areas and across long-distance logistical routes.
The company says it has already developed a supply chain covering methanol production, transportation, refuelling, and vehicle manufacturing it hopes to intensify before the end of the current decade.
To ensure the ongoing development of future technologies, Geely says it is investing in educational projects to “cultivate” new professionals across its portfolio, ensuring both current and next-generation employees bring value to the company’s “talent pool”.
Geely says this approach will continue to deepen its “talent forest” strategy, further expanding its strategic development in those fields mentioned above. The program centres not only on current and new employees, but offers high-school level incentive programs that will allow the company to directly recruit high-school graduates, offering “targeted training” to develop employees that are “more proactive, effective, and practically innovative”.
For a company with just 40 years’ experience it seems Geely is holding nothing back in its push to become a global automotive powerhouse.
Under the “One Geely” banner, the drive to become what it says is a “globally leading intelligent electric mobility technology company” seems well within the company’s reach, investing sums of money other OEMs can’t possibly hope to match.
GoAuto and other industry observers will follow Geely’s progress with interest.