As China’s first truly multinational automotive enterprise, Geely is also the first automaker to announce its 2025 sales target, demonstrating Li Shufu’s strong confidence in achieving his goals by that year.
BYD (wholesale sales) surpassed SAIC Group and Volkswagen China in 2024, becoming the largest automotive group in China. Li Shufu could no longer sit still and has initiated a new round of strategic moves, aiming to firmly establish Geely as the undisputed leader in China’s automotive industry.
Lynk & Co. has pushed Volvo to the side, making it a subsidiary of Zeekr, and the newly established Zeekr Technology Group is fully integrated into Geely Auto Group. Yizhen and Radar are also subsequently merged into the group. Li Shufu’s intention is clear: to use the group’s matrix to compete with BYD and the rapidly growing Chery in recent years.
Currently, Geely Holding owns Volvo, Polestar, Lotus (Lotus sports cars), Smart, and London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC), with additional brands expected to be integrated into Geely Auto Group.
Geely Auto Group’s 2025 target is 2.71 million units, representing an approximate 25% year-over-year growth. The breakdown is as follows: Geely Galaxy 1 million units, Lynk & Co. 390,000 units, Zeekr 320,000 units, and exports 460,000 units.
In comparison, BYD’s sales target of 4.25 million units and Chery’s 2.6 million units in 2024 might make Geely’s 2025 target seem modest, as if it is merely a small goal aiming to reach third place.
However, do not be fooled by Li Shufu! Geely’s 2024 sales target has already been raised by 100,000 units, roughly equivalent to the annual sales of Xiaomi Auto. The real secret challenge might be Geely’s unspoken goal of hitting 3 million units in 2025.
For some car companies, their annual targets may just be political tasks or marketing strategies to boost sales. However, faced with the dominant position of BYD and the aggressive competition from Chery, Geely must go all in to compete seriously.
Geely once focused on the sales growth of fuel vehicles and global cooperation with Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, and Proton. Meanwhile, BYD steadily overtook Geely to become China’s largest automaker by focusing on new energy vehicles. Now, Geely has finally woken up to the urgency of the situation, and only it can apply pressure on BYD.
Li Shufu never does things simply. If you only focus on Geely’s current situation, you’ve already lost!
Li Shufu’s global collaborations are exemplary, with each partnership serving as a success story that could be taught in business schools. Even the only outsourcing venture—ZeYu Auto’s failure—was praised by the industry for being a model of conscience, a stark contrast to the public relations challenges BYD faces in the Chinese market.
BYD has reached heights never before imagined in China’s automotive industry with new energy vehicles. Chery has quietly redefined itself as the “most profitable dollar-earning” Chinese carmaker, reshaping its image as a “national hero”. Meanwhile, Geely has become one of the world’s most business-savvy automakers, with its focus on acquisitions.
In 2010, Geely acquired Volvo from Ford, and in 2018, after acquiring a stake in Mercedes-Benz, it also took over Smart. This shows that Li Shufu’s thinking is markedly different from that of leaders of other Chinese automakers. He is not just focused on making good cars but is also building a global network, a crucial move as Chinese automakers speed up their collective overseas expansion.
BYD, sitting atop China’s automotive industry, is shifting its focus to overseas markets. Chery, on the other hand, continues to expand its presence in the domestic market. With the backing of Renault, Volvo, and Mercedes-Benz, Geely’s path to further global expansion could happen even faster and with less effort than BYD and Chery.
Li Shufu achieved a lightning-fast revival of Volvo. Many people still don’t understand what “trick” Li Shufu used to win Ford and Volvo’s trust. Now, as Geely embarks on its global expansion journey again, his high-end strategy may not be easily understood by the average person.
An interesting thought: the founders of BYD and Great Wall Motors, Wang Chuanfu and Wei Jianjun, are still active in the front lines, while the founders of Geely and Chery, Li Shufu and Yin Tongyue, have already stepped back from the front lines, sitting back and making strategic decisions behind the scenes.
Every day, China’s automotive industry is setting new records and making surprises in the global automotive industry. As multinational carmakers and developed nations grow increasingly cautious about China’s automotive push into overseas markets, only exceptional global intelligence can secure a breakthrough in global markets. Otherwise, the situation could change rapidly in an instant.
After successfully acquiring Volvo, Li Shufu stated at the 2010 6th China-Europe Business Summit that “Geely is Geely, and Volvo is Volvo”. He emphasized full respect for Europe’s mature business culture and for Volvo’s world-leading brand value. Li Shufu aimed to develop Volvo Cars into a successful example of Sino-European cooperation, which marked the beginning of Geely’s comprehensive growth.
In September 2024, Geely Holding released the “Taizhou Declaration”, announcing a new stage of strategic transformation. This shift marks a transition from the previous expansion strategy to a more focused approach of integration and steady growth.
This “strategic contraction” focuses on the growth of core businesses, optimizing the financial structure, improving brand differentiation, and boosting operational efficiency to respond to global economic uncertainties, technological changes, and industry competition pressures.
The internal strife between BYD and Great Wall Motors, along with battles among KOCs and KOLs, has shown the brutal and sometimes ugly internal competition within China’s automotive industry.
Li Shufu has much more to do—not only in responding to external challenges from Volkswagen, Toyota, and BYD, but also in overcoming internal resistance during major adjustments. For instance, two months have passed since the merger of Zeekr and Lynk & Co., but Geely Holding’s official website still has not updated the relevant content.
Li Shufu has set the goal for Geely Holding to achieve over 5 million vehicles in annual sales by 2027. With the expansion of Geely’s new energy vehicles, its overseas markets, and global resource integration, we believe this target will come much faster than anticipated.