Geely Automobile

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Geely Automobile (吉利汽车, pronounced "JEE-lee") was the first independent automobile manufacturer in the People's Republic of China. The parent company is Geely Holding Group (吉利控股集团).

Early Years

Geely started in 1986 as a manufacturer of refrigerators, then moved to manufacturing decoration materials in 1989, and by 1992, motorcycle parts. In 1994, Geely began manufacturing motorcycles. By 1996, Geely had produced over 200,000 motorcycles and scooters. Automobile production started in 1998. Geely began exporting its first cars in 2003. Geely had its IPO in 2004. Geely's chairman and founder, Li Shufu, wants to sell two-thirds of the company's output overseas, though he is noncommitted as to when that could happen. In a March 2005 forum held in Beijing, he was quoted as saying:

We must make cars like people from Wenzhou make [a quarter of the world's] lighters. But developing a car industry is like growing one tree slowly to cover a whole forest.

Li relinquished the CEO title to Yue Guisheng in February 2006 to comply with Hong Kong Stock Exchange regulations. He remains chairman.

Export sales

Geely made its first foreign incursion into a developed market by being the first Chinese automakers present at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2005. The company presented the entirety of their passenger model lineup with the Haoqing and Meirie hatchbacks, Uliou and Free Cruiser sedans and Beauty Leopard coupé. Geely also became the first Chinese car maker to display at the US Detroit auto show. Geely is expected to begin mass sales in Europe in 2007, and are currently re-engineering their cars to meet Euro IV emission and Euro NCAP crash-test regulations. So far, the only European distributor interested in marketing the brand is SHA, former representative of SEAT in Portugal, who is planning to distribute Geely in the Iberian Peninsula. Geely originally planned to begin selling cars for the North American market in 2008, the year the of the Beijing Olympics, but after several test vehicles failed U.S. crash and emissions tests, Geely's debut in America has been delayed until 2009. In Venezuela, Geely already started to sell its products (automobiles and motorcycles).

Companies

Geely operates two automobile companies in China:

• Zhejiang Geely Automobile
• Shanghai Maple Guorun Automobile

Sales

• 1998-~200
• 1999-~2000
• 2000-~8000
• 2001-~20,000
• 2002-~50,000
• 2003-~80,000
• 2004-~106,000
• 2005-~150,000
• 2006-~200,000 (expected)

Models

Most of Geely's range is based on the Xiali TJ7300, which in turn was based on the 1987 Daihatsu Charade. Models such as the Haoqing (豪情) (five-door), Merrie (美日) (five-door), Uliou (优利欧) (four-door) and Urban Nanny (van and pick-up truck) have Charade bases, but feature a more prominent chromed grille.

Brands

Geely like Chery, has developped other brands despite not having enough brand awareness oversea. There are also three other brands, Emgrand, Gleagle and Shanghai Englon.

Zhejiang Geely Automobile

• Xiali TJ7300-based
  • 1998– HQ/Haoqing/Haoqing SRV (豪情/豪情SRV) — 1.0 L & 1.3 L & 1.5 L hatchback
  • 2000– MR/Merrie (美日) — hatchback
  • 2002— MR/Uliou/MS (优利欧)
  • 2004– PU/Rural Nanny/Urban Nanny
• 2002– BL/Beauty Leopard/BO(美人豹) — 1.5 L coupe
• Daewoo-designed
  • 2005– CK/Freedom Cruiser — 1.3 L & 1.5 L & 1.6 L sedan
  • 2005– Geely 美日之星 — 1.1 L & 1.3 L hatchback
• 2006– LG/KingKong(金刚) — 1.5 L & 1.6 L sedan
  • 2006– FC/Vision(远景) — 1.8 L CVVT sedan
• 2008– Geely HL — MPV
• 2009– Geely GE — luxury saloon
• 2009– Geely EC718

Shanghai Maple Guorun Automobile

• 2003–2005 Maple Huapu(华普)M203 — 1.5 L 5-door hatchback
• 2003– Maple Hisoon（海迅）AA & AB — 5-door hatchback
• 2004– Maple Marindo(海域)M303 — 1.5 L & 1.8 L sedan
• 2005– Maple Hysoul（海尚）M305 — 5-door hatchback
• 2006– Maple Hysoul（海尚）M206/Haixuan（海炫） — Special car for women<ref>Maple Haixuan: What Chinese Women Want?, Edmunds.com, March 10, 2006</ref>

Concept Cars

• Geely GT Concept
• Geely ET925 Concept
• Geely IG Fantastic Concept

See also

Chinese auto makers

References

• Chinese Car to Debut at Detroit Auto Show Ward's AutoWorld. Retrieved on January 11, 2006

Notes

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External links

• Official website in Chinese
• Geely global site
• Geely USA
• Geely Forums at China Car Forums in English
• Forum at Geely and Maple in Ukraine
• Voiture Chinoise - Geely Automobile in French
• Geely Holding Group, a good chronological history of Geely
• China Car Times - News about Geely
• China Car Forums-For More info on Geely and Chinese cars
• Boo, It’s the Geely Aoo...
• Beijing '08 Preview: Geeley GT concept to debut
• Official: Geely GT Planned for Auto China Show
• Geely GE MPV Coming to 2008 Beijing Auto Show
• Geely HL MPV: Compact Minivan Set For Beijing Debut
• Geely CE Hatchback Headed for 2008 Auto China
• Geely at 2008 Auto China
• Ford finalizes deal to sell Volvo to Geely for $1.8 billion