Geely Auto‘s newly appointed chairman An Conghui said on Monday that Volvo Cars‘ European factories will serve as a manufacturing base for high-end and luxury vehicles from the Chinese brand, with production expected to begin in 2028.
An disclosed at Geely Auto’s interim results conference on Monday. Li Shufu remains Geely Auto’s substantial and controlling shareholder as well as chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding.
Additionally, the restructuring involves Gan Jiayue replacing Gui Shengyue as chief executive of Geely Auto, and Gui becoming Vice-Chairman in place of Daniel Li Donghui.
The announcement came as the company registered its second month in a row of exports over 100,000 units, prompting it to raise its overseas annual delivery target from 640,000 units to 920,000 — just short of 1 million.
The brand outlined a broader overseas strategy built around shared production capacity, joint investment, and coordinated supply chains across Geely‘s brands and external strategic partners.
Geely Auto includes both Chinese automaker Geely and the Zeekr Group, made of the premium EV maker Zeekr and the Lynk & Co brand.
They are part of the broader Geely Holding Group, founded and led by Li Shufu — who also announced on Monday that he was stepping down as the chairman of the Geely Auto unit.
His departure will allow him to devote more time to other business commitments, the company said in a stock market filing.
An Conghui succeeded Li Shufu, who will remain the chairman of the conglomerate.
Overseas Strategy
The plan revealed on Monday marks the most concrete timeline yet for a strategy that Geely founder Li Shufu first articulated in March.
Geely Auto shares closed 4.8% higher in Hong Kong.
Speaking at Volvo Cars‘ headquarters in Gothenburg at the time, Li said the group would use Volvo’s existing European capacity to produce vehicles for the wider Geely ecosystem — a move designed to avoid steep EU tariffs on imported Chinese electric vehicles while absorbing spare capacity at Volvo‘s plants.
Volvo Cars operates manufacturing facilities in Gothenburg, Sweden, Ghent, Belgium, and Košice, Slovakia.
CEO Håkan Samuelsson said in March that the Swedish automaker had enough spare capacity at its European plants to share with Geely Auto and other brands in the portfolio.
On Monday, An Conghui said the group would coordinate its brands and external strategic partners to achieve joint investment, collaborative development, shared production capacity, shared local supply chains and talent resources, as well as shared sales channels and service networks, Jiemian News reported.
Beyond Volvo: Spain and Southeast Asia
Volvo‘s European plants represent only one pillar of Geely‘s localization push.
An also addressed two other major manufacturing bases under development.
The joint venture plant established by Geely Auto and Ford Motor Company in Valencia, Spain, will produce models from Geely alongside Ford-branded vehicles.
The plant will have an annual capacity of approximately 500,000 vehicles, with production expected to begin in 2028.
Geely Auto and Ford announced the joint venture on July 23.
Under the proposed ownership structure, Ford will hold 66% and Geely Auto 34%.
The venture is expected to produce three Ford-branded multi-energy vehicles and two electric Geely-branded SUVs, with the first models rolling off the line in 2028.
Pending regulatory approval, the joint venture is expected to begin operations in the first half of 2027, while the Valencia plant continues producing the Ford Kuga in the interim.
Separately, Proton’s Malaysian plant — a facility Geely gained access to through its 49.9% acquisition of the national automaker in 2017 — is undergoing technological upgrades and will be transformed into a Southeast Asian manufacturing hub with an annual capacity of 500,000 vehicles, An said.
The Tanjung Malim facility, located in the Malaysian state of Perak, already assembles vehicles for Proton and has begun EV production with the e.MAS 7, a rebadged version of the Geely Galaxy E5.
Proton’s engine plant at the site is targeting capacity of up to 400,000 units annually by 2028 and already supplies components for Geely products sold in markets including Vietnam, Mexico, and South Africa.
Deepening Cross-Brand Integration
The plan to place Geely Auto Group vehicles into Volvo‘s European factories extends a pattern of deepening integration across Geely Holding’s portfolio.
In late March, Volvo Cars signed a memorandum of understanding to become the exclusive European importer and commercial operator for Lynk & Co, taking over the brand’s distribution, marketing, and sales across the continent.
The deal effectively absorbs Lynk & Co‘s European commercial operation into Volvo‘s retail network.
Polestar has also consolidated all global production of its Polestar 3 SUV at Volvo‘s plant in Ridgeville, South Carolina, ending Chinese manufacturing of the model.
Volvo‘s stake in Polestar doubled to 19.9% from 9.8% after the Swedish automaker converted approximately $274 million in debt to equity earlier this year.
In July, Volvo Cars secured up to €119 million in Belgian government support for its Ghent plant — a facility that could be among those tapped for Geely group production.
Export Target Raised
At the same results conference, Geely Auto announced it had raised its 2026 export target from 640,000 to 920,000 vehicles, with a full-year aspiration of approaching one million units.
The revision followed a first half in which Geely Auto’s export volume reached 474,228 vehicles — a 158% year-on-year increase that surpassed the company’s full-year 2025 export total of 420,000 units.
Monthly exports exceeded 100,000 units in both June and July.
Geely Auto reported record first-half revenue of 173.6 billion yuan ($25.7 billion) and total vehicle sales of more than 1.42 million units across the Geely brand, Zeekr, and Lynk & Co. Second-quarter net income rose 36% year-on-year to 4.9 billion yuan ($727 million).
The company began hiring in Canada in April to launch the Geely namesake brand, with Zeekr International acting as the operational arm for the Canadian market entry.
