Gely’s Comeback Against All Odds

2021 can be described as an extremely difficult year with the impact of many uncertain factors such as the repeated outbreak of the pandemic, the shortage of chips, and the rise in raw material prices. In such an environment, we can always hear car companies complaining and lamenting.

However, in this great environment, we also saw many car companies rise up in adversity in 2021. If we had to choose the most representative example, it would have to be Geely. From 2017 to 2020, Geely had already won the title of the best-selling domestic brand for four consecutive years. And in the extremely “difficult” 2021, Geely not only achieved an outstanding performance of 1,328,029 vehicles, but also surpassed the milestone of one million vehicles produced and sold for five consecutive years, taking the top spot among domestic brand passenger cars.

Geely’s Comeback Against All Odds

In fact, according to the data, Geely’s five consecutive victories were not a smooth sailing journey but full of obstacles and challenges. From January to June 2021, Geely only achieved sales performance of 576,815 units, nearly 40,000 units less than its domestic rival, Changan Automobile, which was another self-branded strong competitor.

At that time, the author once doubted whether Geely could catch up with Changan Automobile in 2021.

Fortunately, with the rise of Geely in the second half of 2021, the gap between the two was gradually narrowed. As of October 2021, Changan Automobile’s cumulative sales reached 955,415 units, while Geely reached 948,577 units. The gap between the two has been narrowed to 6,838 units.

In November and December, Geely achieved an outstanding performance of 122,804 and 141,640 units, respectively, surpassing Changan and ultimately winning the crown of the best-selling domestic brand in 2021.

Looking back now, Geely’s 2021 can be described as a comeback against all odds that gamers often mention. Yes, a comeback against all odds is undoubtedly exciting, but it requires many prerequisites. For example, in games like League of Legends or Honor of Kings, we need to have excellent online development, solid control of map resources, and finally, a spectacular team fight to stage a great comeback against all odds.

The Turnaround of Geely: Excellent Online Development and Technological Research and Development Laying the Sales Foundation

To put it in the words of our gamers, “Only with excellent online development can we have the power to win after the battle.” In other words, the primary factor in Geely’s turnaround is to lay a solid foundation. Geely knows this well.

Since Geely’s release of the “Ningbo Declaration” in 2007, it has officially embarked on a strategic transformation, shifting from price wars to technology wars and brand wars. From then on, Geely has been practicing, laying a solid foundation, and investing steadfastly in technological research and development.

According to data, Geely’s R&D investment has exceeded 100 billion yuan in the past decade, with Geely’s R&D investment reaching 20.73 billion yuan in 2019 alone. In the top 500 Chinese enterprises, Geely ranks sixth in total R&D investment and first among automotive companies. At the same time, Geely has established nearly 100 patent groups in core technology areas such as intelligent network connection, new energy, and power. Geely has applied for more than 25,000 automotive technology patents, ranking first in total patent applications in the automotive industry.

Under such large-scale R&D investment, we have seen Geely brand insisting on independent research and development, solving many technical difficulties that previously hindered the company’s progress.

In 2020, Geely officially entered the era of “Geely 4.0” architecture for car-making. At this point, we found that Geely already has four world-class modular architectures: CMA, BMA, SPA, and SEA (Haohan). Among them, the most notable is the CMA architecture, which serves as China’s first world-class car-making architecture and is a true portrayal of “Technological Geely.”

CMA architecture is known as the “Super Matrix Architecture,” defining the five major advantages of automotive safety, health, intelligence, performance, and energy-saving. From a professional perspective, we can say that CMA architecture has an extraordinary technical height and a forward-looking layout, laying the foundation for the development of the automotive industry in the next few years. From the user’s perspective, CMA architecture has brought them many groundbreaking car models, such as the family car breaker Xingrui and the SUV leader Xingyue L.

Control map resources, layout scientifically and develop reasonably

After passing the “development period” and laying a solid foundation, if you want to turn the tide, you come to a critical period. That is to control map resources. In the automotive industry, this requires a scientific product layout and the implementation of multiple strategic measures with the help of their own strength in order to lead the overall scientific development.

First of all, there is a scientific product layout. The sales composition of Geely Automobile includes four brands: Geely, Geometry, Lynk & Co, and JiKe. In fact, looking at these four brands separately, they all represent Geely Automobile and have strong competition strength in their respective fields. However, taken together, we can easily see the scientificness of Geely Automobile’s market layout in various fields.

In the field of ordinary household cars, Geely brand has the Emperor family and Borui family, both of which have annual sales exceeding 200,000 vehicles. Coupled with the good performance of the “Chinese cannon” New Binyue, which entered 150,000 vehicles throughout the year, and the people’s desire to buy a household car, Geely is an option that can’t be ignored.

It is worth mentioning that in December, the Chinese Star series, consisting of Xingrui, Xingyue L, and Xingyue S, achieved a record of 29,287 vehicles. Xingrui and Xingyue L respectively became the only independent brand models with monthly sales exceeding 10,000 in their respective sub-markets. With its hard power, it is overturning the Chinese automobile market and also refreshing the new height of Chinese automobile value.

In the household new energy market, Geely primarily sells new energy and electrified models such as Geometry A and Geometry C. In December, sales reached 18,813 vehicles, an increase of approximately 162% year-on-year. In the whole year of 2021, total sales reached 100,126 vehicles, an increase of approximately 47% year-on-year.

Apart from that, Lynk & Co and Zeekr represent Geely’s high-end brands respectively. According to data, Lynk & Co, a global new high-end brand, achieved a total sales volume of 220,516 vehicles throughout the year, once again breaking the record for the highest annual sales volume in Lynk & Co’s history. In December, the delivery volume of Zeekr 001 also reached 3,796 vehicles, an increase of about 88.7% month-on-month. It is easy to see that Geely’s high-end brands and models are gradually gaining a foothold with their excellent comprehensive strength.

From this point of view, Geely’s scientific product layout has created both ultra-high sales volume and continuously hot-selling products for users. For example, Lynk & Co 09, EX3, which is favored by netizens, and the Star Yuet L, which was hot-selling immediately after going public.

Looking back to 2021, although it was an extremely difficult year, it was also a year that tested true strength. While Geely scientifically laid out the products and created continuously popular models, it was also making every effort to enhance its competitiveness.

On October 31, 2021, Geely announced its “Intelligent Geely 2025” strategy. The strategy showed that Geely officially launched the Thor Power and started a new era of “Power 4.0”. And will build a “One Network and Three System” global strategic layout. In the end, the nine Longwan actions will promote the implementation of the “Intelligent Geely 2025” strategy.

According to the plan released by Geely, within the next three years, more than 20 models powered by Thor Power are expected to be launched, and the company is targeting to achieve the first place in the sales volume of hybrid mainstream segmented markets. Just two months later, on December 25, 2021, the Geely Star Yuet L Thor Hi・X hybrid version officially started pre-sales, and all of its 2,022 pre-sale orders were paid in 8 minutes and 21 seconds. Like the pure fuel version of Star Yuet L, it fully demonstrated the popular power of China’s Star series.

A Wonderful Group Battle, The “Jungle” is Often the KeyFor a game, a thrilling team fight can satisfy both players and spectators. However, in a wonderful team cooperation, there is often a key role played by one character – the jungle. Similarly, in the automobile market, Do Li Jun would like to compare the overseas market to the “jungle” position in the game.

The reason is simple; domestic brand models have been recognized and accepted in the domestic market. Going overseas can bring about constantly improving brand image and influence, and returning feedback to Chinese users with its global quality. This is exactly the role played by the “jungle” position in the game.

Geely Auto exported 115,008 vehicles in 2021, an increase of approximately 58% over the same period last year. Facing the overseas market, Geely Auto has made progress in the Southeast Asian market by implementing the Belt and Road Initiative and adding Laos to its newly signed contracts. It has also launched businesses in Chile, Egypt, Ukraine, Bahrain, and other markets. Currently, Geely Auto’s footprint has covered 28 countries with 227 overseas sales and after-sales service outlets.

When mentioning Geely Auto’s going overseas, the Lynk & Co brand must be the brand with a “charge” meaning. Since its inception, Lynk & Co has positioned itself as a global new high-end brand. After the release of the “Europe Plan” in September 2020, the Lynk & Co 01 plug-in hybrid, as the first global strategic product for Lynk & Co’s global expansion, was simultaneously pre-sold in China and Europe.

In 2021, Lynk & Co accelerated the “Europe Plan”. After Amsterdam, Netherlands, it opened experience stores in Gothenburg and Stockholm, Sweden; Antwerp, Belgium; Hamburg, Berlin, and Munich, Germany. The total number of stores reached seven. In addition, Lynk & Co officially launched the “Asia Pacific Plan” in November 2021, with its first stop in Kuwait.

Lynk & Co’s global models have long been highly recognized by European users. In 2021, Lynk & Co delivered 11,602 vehicles to the European market, providing a textbook-level demonstration for Chinese high-end brands going abroad.

Doli Language:

In fact, Doli has been thinking about how to describe the just past 2021. Was it difficult and bumpy? Or was it full of hope and prosperity? Using any word to summarize 2021 seems insufficient. They lack our hard work in 2021 and our achievements in 2021.

Comeback against the wind is the summary of Geely’s performance in 2021 by Doli. And it can also represent most of us in 2021. Geely seized the opportunity with a solid foundation and demonstrated the wonderful cooperation of the Geely family for us with the attitude of “dare to be”, which achieved five consecutive sales championships. Looking back at us, who hasn’t completed 2021 by daring to be and breakthroughs, and having a comeback against the wind?

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.