On the world auto map, a Chinese brand belongs in the top three — and Geely is the one

In the future, the world will have only two or three car brands. Big‑brand consolidation is inevitable.

— Li Shufu

Yesterday I toured Geely. No photographing allowed. A few reflections.

On the global automotive industry map, a Chinese company belongs in the top three. The one capable of carrying that mantle is Geely.

From 1986 to 2018, Geely grew from a family business into a global company. Across the group it promotes a culture of striving, of surfacing problems, of benchmarking, and of compliance — a set of universal values to unify its 20,000 designers, engineers, and R&D staff distributed across Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Gothenburg, Coventry, Barcelona, and California. In a brutally competitive industry, this helps sustain coordinated innovation.

Geely has laid out positions across passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, future mobility, and travel solutions, to avoid missing any structural shift. Passenger cars are the cash cow. This year’s passenger‑car sales target of 1.58 million will likely be missed. Unlike the 2014 dip caused by Geely’s proactive brand‑strategy reset, 2018’s decline is a broad industry downturn that accelerated rapidly from September, posing major operating challenges for all players.

At the ceremony marking 40 years of Reform and Opening, Li Shufu, representing private enterprise in the auto industry, was recognized as a contributor to the 40‑year journey. Coupled with the policy stance of “If we don’t vigorously support companies like Geely, who else would we support?”, I believe that under Li’s determined leadership Geely will achieve 2 million annual passenger‑car sales by 2020, enter the global top‑10 automakers, and become China’s most competitive and respected auto brand. After all, only the paranoid survive — and Li’s “paranoias” have paid off time and again.

There’s one trading day left in 2018. The market has largely priced in Geely Auto missing its full‑year sales target. As for when the industry recovers, we must wait. If you haven’t boarded, keep watching — don’t jump in rashly. If you’re already on the car, don’t jump off in a panic either; your BMW has already turned into a Baojun, and there isn’t much room left to fall.

Published at: Dec 28, 2018 · Modified at: Sep 13, 2025