Geely is considering building its new off-road sport utility vehicle at the Ford plant near Valencia it part-owns, Automotive News reported on Wednesday, a day after the model opened for pre-order in China.
The Galaxy Battleship 700, sold in China as the Zhanjian 700 and expected to carry a different name in export markets, is a plug-in hybrid with a tri-motor system producing a combined 830 kilowatts, or 1,113 horsepower.
Neither Geely nor Ford has confirmed the plan. Automotive News cited people familiar with the matter.
The Model
Pre-sales opened in China on Tuesday, from 199,800 yuan ($29,800) for the base version with a 1.5-litre engine and two-wheel drive, to 269,800 yuan ($40,200) for the 2.0-litre tri-motor. A limited Land Ark edition is listed at 389,800 yuan ($58,100).
The model was revealed in China on July 24 and shown overseas in Milan two days later. A pre-production version appeared at the Turin show in September 2025.
Geely has confirmed it for the United Kingdom in 2028. European type approval has not been announced.
Why It Would Be Different
Everything Geely has confirmed for the Almussafes plant so far sits on its GEA new energy architecture. The Battleship 700 does not.
The model uses a ladder-frame chassis, which Geely calls an integrated frame, of the kind found under the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado rather than under a crossover.
Motor.es noted that Ford does not currently build a body-on-frame vehicle at any European plant, which would make this a question of new tooling rather than a model allocation.
One planned model complicates that. Ford is due to build a compact SUV from the Bronco family at Almussafes from 2028, itself a boxy vehicle offered as a plug-in hybrid. Ford has not specified what underpins the European version.
If the Battleship 700 were added, each partner would build two SUVsand one off-roader at the same plant.
The Venture It Would Join
Geely Auto and Ford announced the joint venture on July 23 at Almussafes, at an event attended by Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez.
Ford holds 66% and Geely Auto 34%. Geely paid €221 million, valuing the venture at €650 million, according to its filing to the Hong Kong exchange, reported by Valencia Plaza and the news agency EFE the following day.
Geely had declined to give the figure at the press conference.
Operations begin in the first half of 2027, with the first new vehicles in 2028. The new company absorbs all 4,142 workers.
Five models are planned: the existing Ford Kuga, the Bronco derivative, a new multi-energy crossover designed by Ford and co-developed with Geely, and two Geely models. The first Geely model named is the EX5, sold in China as the Galaxy E5.
The plant has a target of 500,000 vehicles a year by the end of 2028.
The filing sets a perimeter. The venture does not extend to joint sales, shared design, research or brand management, each partner keeps its own commercial identity, and there is a right of first refusal if either sells. No provision contemplates Geely increasing its stake.
Ford named Jeff Jones, its global director of digital technology and electrified systems purchasing, as president of the venture on September 14.
The Context
Geely’s European position gives the question scale.
The group, which also owns Volvo, Polestar, Lynk and Co and Zeekr, registered 225,350 vehicles in Europe in the first half of 2026, up 8.5%, making it the largest Chinese-owned automotive presence in the region by volume.
The EX5, the one Geely model confirmed for Valencia, registered 3,737 units across Europe in that period.
Building inside Europe avoids the anti-subsidy duties Brussels imposed on China-built electric vehicles in 2024, which reach 35.3% on top of the standard 10% import duty. Chery is due to start building at a former Nissan plant in Barcelona this year.
Geely bought Volvo Cars from Ford in 2010.
