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Geely exports second batch of vehicles to Cuba

October 28, 2011 at 4:45 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, China, Geely, International News

According to reports, Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely has exported a second batch of Geely vehicles to Cuba, shipping 1,560 cars to the country last week. It’s the second time the automaker has done so, having exported 1,500 units in 2009, where they were used by government officials and the police, as well as equipping rental car fleets.

The shipment this time is made up of 1,310 Freedom Ship (or the Geely CK) sedans and 250 Emgrand mid-sized sedans, Geely said, and buyers for the cars include Cuba’s defense and tourism ministries, plus some other agencies.

Geely, which owns Swedish automaker Volvo, also began exports to other markets this year – it started exporting to Australia earlier in the year, and last month began selling cars in Saudi Arabia.

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Geely to build its own assembly plant in Indonesia

July 25, 2011 at 11:00 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Geely, International News

Geely Automobile is definitely looking at making some serious inroads in Indonesia. The company has been selling its cars in the country since April 2010, and through its local subsidiary Geely Mobil Indonesia now has 18 dealerships across the country, with two new ones to come about this year.

Now, reports say that it is planning to build its own assembly plant there, which will be located in Cikarang, Bekasi in West Java. Land clearing for the site is being carried out now, and when completed – at a cost of between US$30 million to US$50 million – the plant will start assembling Geely products in 2015.

Currently, the company sells the Panda hatchback as well as the MK sedan and MK2 hatchback in Indonesia, the latter two being assembled locally at an Astra International plant in North Jakarta. It showcased its latest product for the market, the Panda LC Cross, at the IIMS in Jakarta last week. Looking to be very depanda-ble as a player in Indonesia, the brand is.

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Geely Panda puts its paw on the Indonesian market

July 23, 2011 at 1:48 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under 2011 Indonesian International Motor Show, Cars, Geely

Of the many cars that Chinese car manufacturer Geely put on display at the 2011 Indonesian International Motor Show, this one caught our eye – the Geely Panda.

The entire car is Panda-themed, for example the black rings around the Panda’s “eyes”, the cartoon Panda on the floor mats, and even the tail lamps are designed to look like a Panda’s paw print.

Being an A-segment car it’s not very big inside but one thing we noticed is that it did not have the strong and suspiciously dangerous-smelling scent of cheap plastic that we’ve come to encounter with some Chinese cars in the past.

Geely also claims the Panda is the first car to achieve a 5 star crash safety rating in China’s independent C-NCAP collision testing.

The cutesy circular theme continues on the inside. The glove box looks quite unique as it is not your typical glovebox but is instead accessed by a sliding cover like you’ll usually find on center consoles in the middle of the front seats.

Power comes from a 1.3 litre inline-4 which makes 85 horsepower and 110Nm of torque. It’s priced at about 95 million Indonesian rupiah, which translates to about RM33,000.

Look after the jump for more pix and a video of the Panda.
[Read more...]

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Volvo to make 7-Series and S-Class competitor?

August 5, 2010 at 4:36 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Geely, International News, Volvo

Geely Boss Li Shufu mentioned just hours after the announcement of the Chinese automakers purchase of Volvo that he wants Volvo cars to compete with top end marques like BMW and Mercedes. Li attributes the Swedish brand’s struggling sales as compared to top flight automakers to the pricing of the models.

A new BMW 740i sedan and Mercedes-Benz S400 hybrid in the US retails for about $70,150 and $87,950 respectively which is more than double of Volvo’s $39,200 for its top of the range sedan, the Volvo S80. Li says Volvo need products to compete in that segment.

Speaking more on the overall progression to profitability, Li pointed out that 380,000 units had to be sold every year for Volvo to become profitable which is a far cry from the 335,000 units they sold last year, suffering a loss of $653 million. In order for Volvo to get an upper hand in the competition, they [Volvo] need to pump out more volume.

Part of the plan is also to create more awareness in the Chinese market of Volvo’s heritage of developing features such as air bags or catalytic converters. In regards to a 380,000 units every year, Li said that no decision has been made and that would require market studies, board and government approval.

He went on to say that he was happy with the Volvo buy branding it a historic opportunity and does not see any similar deals available in the near future. “It’s very difficult to find a good brand like Volvo you can buy. If Mercedes Benz wants to sell itself, I think Chinese companies would be interested”.

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Volvo Cars now officially owned by Chinese Geely!

August 3, 2010 at 7:51 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, China, Geely, International News, Volvo

It’s official – Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Company Limited (or Geely as its known to you and me) has completed its acquisition of the Volvo Car Corporation from Ford Motor Company. This has been done to a tune of a US$1.8 billion amount which was originally agreed upon in March 2010.

This purchase price was made out of a US$200 million note with a cash balance subject to customary purchase price adjustments at the close of the sale. Geely have now paid off the note and US$1.3 billion in cash to complete the sale. Final balance figures are expected to be finalized later this year.

On the matter of technology and manufacturing, Ford will continue to supply Volvo with powertrains, stampings and other vehicle components at differing periods. This also includes engineering support, information technology, access to tooling for common components, and other selected services for a transition period. In terms of intellectual property, agreements are currently being made to govern the use of Volvo’s intellectual property by Ford.

Former Volkswagen Chief Executive of America Stefan Jacoby, has been appointed the new President and Chief Executive of Volvo Cars. They will also retain their headquarters and manufacturing presence in Sweden and Belgium while the management will be allowed independence to execute its own business plans with direction from its new board.

An exciting step for both companies, that will no doubt see the rise of Geely as a global market player and the influx of Chinese investment into one of the top Swedish auto brands.

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EU approves sale of Volvo to Chinese carmakers, Geely

July 7, 2010 at 12:14 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Geely, International News, Volvo

It has been announced recently that the European Union competition regulators have approved the sale of Ford Motor Co’s Volvo, to Chinese car maker Geely Automobile Holdings and investment firm Daqing. This comes after an investigation concluded that the “deal will not significantly impede competition in Europe,” in a statement from the EU executive.

The takeover worth US$2.7 billion was originally agreed on in March and is expected to be concluded sometime during the third quarter of this year. This is said to include $900 million to bring Volvo back into the black.

There have been rumours that to do this, the Chinese carmaker will be moving production to China, where other German and Japanese manufacturers have enjoyed booming sales and profits. Naturally the company itself is resistant to the idea, but this will be futile as Volvo is one step closer to being fully owned by Geely.

Even if that doesn’t happen, the upside to this takeover would mean that Volvo tech could be seen in Geely cars, which are almost half the price of the Sweedish models, thereby providing a sales boost for Geely range of cars.

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Ford and Geely reach definitive agreement over Volvo sale

March 29, 2010 at 12:39 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Ford, Geely, International News

Ford has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Volvo Car Corporation to Chinese carmaker Geely. The sale is expected to close in the third quarter of 2010, and is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of applicable regulatory approvals. The purchase price for Volvo and related assets (mainly intellectual property) is US$1.8 billion.

Ford said that it will continue to cooperate with Volvo in several areas after the sale has been completed in order to ensure a smooth transition, but will not retain any ownership. Following completion of the sale, Ford will continue to supply Volvo Cars with powertrains, stampings and other vehicle components. The Detroit automaker is also committed to provide engineering support, information technology and access to tooling for common components, among other services for a “transition period to ensure a smooth separation process”.

Both parties have established agreements to govern the use of intellectual property, which will “allow both Volvo and Ford to deliver their business plans and provide appropriate safeguards against misuse”. The agreements are said to allow Volvo to grant sublicenses to certain portions of Ford’s intellectual property used by Volvo Cars to third parties, including Geely. Looks like Geely cannot simply pick off tech from the Volvo tree, even though they own it.

Stephen Odell, CEO of Volvo Cars, said: “The Volvo management team fully endorses Ford’s sale of Volvo Cars to Geely. We believe this is the right outcome for the business, and will provide Volvo Cars with the necessary resources, including the capital investment, to strengthen the business and to continue to move it forward in the future.

“Geely has been very supportive of Volvo Cars’ business plans and management team. We look forward to building a strong relationship between Volvo Cars and Geely, and to maintaining a strong relationship with Ford in those areas where we will continue to work together to ensure a smooth transition,” he added.

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Geely secures financing for Volvo purchase, scouting for Chinese production base

March 12, 2010 at 1:57 am By Danny Tan Filed Under China, Geely, Volvo

Chinese automaker Geely has managed to find USD 2.1 billion worth of financing and will seal an agreement with Ford for the acquisition of Volvo Car Corporation by the end of this month, according to reports. The capital was raised from unidentified financial institutions and local governments.

An AFP report said that Geely does not plan to move Volvo production of to China. Trade unions in Sweden are fearing job cuts at Volvo Cars, which has 16,000 staff on its payroll in the high cost Scandinavian country and 8,000 more across the globe.

At the same time, news sources from Hong Kong (where Geely is listed) say that the Hangzhou based company is selecting locations in China for Volvo production, with Beijing and Tianjin vying for the project. The reports add that Geely will set up a plant in China with a production capacity of about 300,000 vehicles annually, nearly doubling Volvo’s global output. This move is aimed to steer Volvo into profitability before 2011 through China’s lower manufacturing and labour costs. If this plan works, the fears of the well paid fatihfuls back in Gothenburg is very likely to turn into reality.

Source

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China-made London cabs on the streets of Kiev?

March 11, 2010 at 12:11 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, China, Geely, International News

Kiev, the capital of Ukraine is eagerly awaiting the arrival of a much anticipated new model. No, not the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG (which is rumoured to be coming soon to Malaysia by the way) but the legendary London Taxi as Kiev is set to become one of the first cities in the world to introduce the iconic vehicle.

The London cab is built by the same company who designed it over 60 years ago. “We know more about taxi design and manufacture than anyone,” said Matthew Cheyne, LTI Vehicles’ International Market Development Director, “and it’s that expertise that we are bringing to Kiev.”

Today’s version of the black cab is built in China by LTI and their joint venture company Geely. “We have been working for a long time to produce a cost effective vehicle that doesn’t lose any of the values that the taxi has in the UK. It is the same design and is as robust as the one we build in Britain but is a lower cost,” adds Cheyne.

LTI Vehicles claims that it has numerous advance enquiries from Ukraine, and is looking for a partner who will import the vehicle and provide sales and aftersales back up.

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Geely boss: “Nothing will change for Volvo”

December 30, 2009 at 1:46 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Geely, International News, Volvo

After Ford announced that it will sell Volvo to Geely, many have raised concerns on the future health of the Swedish carmaker. As a response, Li Shufu, founder and chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, parent of Geely Auto says that Volvo’s current production, R&D facilities, union agreements and dealer networks will all be left intact, quotes a Reuters report.

“If the deal succeeds, nothing will change for Volvo, except the boss turns to Li Shufu,” the head honcho told Xinhua news agency. “Volvo and Geely will be two independently-managed brands.”

He said the Volvo purchase would help Geely, which is China’s largest private automaker, develop “new energy vehicles”, and that Geely would help Volvo reduce production costs and expand in China. “The new energy-powered vehicle will be the future of the world’s auto industry. But based on current investment in research and development, China will be left far behind the pace of developed countries,” the 46-year old Li said.

Ford expects the deal, which is estimated to cost Geely $1.8 billion, to be signed in the first quarter of 2010. Ford paid $6.45 billion for Volvo in 1999.

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