Geely looks set to make a return to Australia after the sighting of a job posting on LinkedIn where the Chinese automaker is seeking a national marketing director. The brand’s return was also indicated by recently filed trademarks, as reported by CarExpert.
In January this year, the company filed to trademark the Geely name, and before that in October last 2023, it did the same for what appears to be its simplified and flatter logo that was unveiled last January.
Unlike Malaysia that receives Geely models adapted for the local market (right-hand drive conversion, styling adjustments) and sold through Proton, it looks like Australia will welcome the company’s namesake brand. It was previously understood that Geely would market its cars under the Proton name in RHD markets. In an initial announcement from years ago, Geely said Proton would be its RHD production hub
However, Australia was never mentioned to begin with, so we are unsure if things have changed or if this was never part of the Proton deal in the first place. For now there’s no official word on when Geely Australia will begin operations, nor is there any indication of what cars will be offered.
Geely’s portfolio is vast and includes its own Geely Auto products in addition to those from its sub-brands and product series such as Geometry (affordable EVs), Galaxy (premium models) and Radar Auto (pick-up trucks). Under the holding company (Zhejiang Geely Holding Group), Geely already has a presence in Australia in the form of the Lotus, Polestar and Volvo brands, with Zeekr set to join the mix in the second half of 2024, followed be Lynk & Co in 2025.
Several years ago, Geely did enter the Australian market through John Hughes when the MK sedan and hatch were launched in 2010. However, these were sold exclusively in Western Australia for a limited time before heightened safety regulations and a high-profile recall saw the brand depart the market.
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Why Geely exited the market in the first place? What different will it make this time?
See last paragraph of this article. Btw, if proton is manufacture for Aussie market, then it will be great. Nevermind that geely do the marketing there. Proton brand too is not that great in Aussie market.
Well Malaysia only have the ONLY 3cyl engine which I supposed it can enter Australia but will not be well adopted where there is a flood of China cars choices to begin with.
Anyhow all our models is already dated:
1) X50 – changed to longer size with 4-cyl engine
2) X70 – changed to new platform all together using all Volvo CMA and 2L engine called Starray
3) X90 – I supposed no one even bothered this car anymore anywhere in the world
This what we can see… China company always scam
It’s in their DNA
Slowly Geely will take over Proton completely. They are waiting for the local management to fail.
Why should geely use proton and gift their drb hicom free ride?
Proton kena scam. Haha. Ingat boleh pergi jauh dengan Geely tapi tak jugak. Jadi tempat Geely habiskan stok lama.
Proton thinks they are somebody. But the fact is, you’re just a 3rd world failing company, who happens to own Lotus. Lotus is the ONLY ready Geely even found out about Proton.
Balik rumah main lu punya telur guli la
From a tactical stand point and given that both Geely and Proton are currently not officially sold in Australia, it would be more logical to badge them as Geely as the parent, stronger global presence-brand and not to mention that the products basically originated from them (eg. how many ppl would want a VW Golf GTi with Skoda badges?). Proton will likely remain as the RHD region’s assembly line, so that is still a win for the local industry and work force opportunity.
So how you gonna explained b and A segment proton car won’t be design in house but in China?
IMHO car manufacturing is an industry that requires significant volume to be sustainable, which often also means parts sharing between models. The lower the volume, the less profit or even any significant ROI during its manufactured lifespan. There are already P1 suppliers voicing difficulties related to this (which is odd given P1’s previous experiences to ‘go alone’ in many aspects). With that in mind, it is possibly a strong reason for the design team to be close to their ‘parts department’ or even the Geely’s own main design team when penning future products.