About Geely
Geely Automobile (simplified Chinese: 吉利汽车; traditional Chinese: 吉利汽車; pinyin: Jí Lì Qì Chē) (SEHK: 0175) was the first independent automobile manufacturer in the People's Republic of China. The parent company is Geely Holding Group (吉利控股集团).
Early years
Geely started in 1986 as a manufacturer of refrigerators, then moved to manufacturing decoration materials in 1989, and by 1992, motorcycle parts. In 1994, Geely began manufacturing motorcycles. By 1996, Geely had produced over 200,000 motorcycles and scooters. Automobile production started in 1998. Geely began exporting its first cars in 2003. Geely had its IPO in 2004. Geely's chairman and founder, Li Shufu, wants to sell two-thirds of the company's output overseas, though he is noncommitted as to when that could happen. In a March 2005 forum held in Beijing, he was quoted as saying:
Li relinquished the CEO title to Yue Guisheng in February 2006 to comply with Hong Kong Stock Exchange regulations. He remains chairman.
Export sales
Geely made its first foreign incursion into a developed market by being the first Chinese automakers present at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2005. The company presented the entirety of their passenger model lineup with the Haoqing and Meirie hatchbacks, Uliou and Free Cruiser sedans and Beauty Leopard coupé. In 2006, Geely also became the first Chinese car maker to display at the US Detroit auto show. Geely is expected to begin mass sales in Europe in 2007, and are currently re-engineering their cars to meet Euro IV emission and Euro NCAP crash-test regulations. So far, the only European distributor interested in marketing the brand is SHA, former representative of SEAT in Portugal, who is planning to distribute Geely in the Iberian Peninsula. Geely originally planned to begin selling cars for the North American market in 2008, the year of the Beijing Olympics, but after several test vehicles failed U.S. crash and emissions tests, Geely's debut in America has been delayed until 2009. In Venezuela, Geely already started to sell its products (automobiles and motorcycles). Geely has also entered the Pakistan and Bangladesh car market.
