Geely Auto's 2026 Core Strategic Initiatives: Insights from the New Year Message

On February 24, 2026—coinciding with the eighth day of the Lunar New Year—Geely Auto Group CEO Gan Jiayue issued an internal New Year message titled "Resilience and Stability, Moving Forward Together."

While acknowledging 2025's strong performance, the letter outlines four core strategic pillars for Geely in 2026 and sets new mandates for internal organizational synergy.

Performance & Integration: Three Brands Align, New Energy Sales Surge 90%

The letter first reviews Geely's 2025 market performance. For the full year, Geely Auto's cumulative sales reached 3,024,567 units—a 39% year-over-year jump that exceeded targets. Notably, new energy vehicle sales climbed to 1,687,767 units, surging 90% annually as the company's electrification penetration rate continued to rise.

Image Source: Geely Auto

Breaking it down by brand, the premium segment stood out. ZEEKR's average transaction price across its entire lineup exceeded 300,000 yuan, with its flagship 9X model averaging over 530,000 yuan per unit and cumulative deliveries topping 30,000. Lynk & Co's annual sales surpassed 350,000 units for the first time. Meanwhile, Geely Galaxy—positioned for the mass market—has become the fastest new energy brand to hit the 1 million annual sales milestone.

The letter notes that by the end of 2025, Geely, Lynk & Co, and ZEEKR had completed a strategic integration, forming a "One Geely" organizational framework. Moving forward, the group aims to boost overall operational efficiency through deep synergy in R&D, market strategy, and supply chain management.

2026 Strategy: A Four-Dimensional Drive via AI, Energy, Luxury, and Global Expansion

Geely's strategic blueprint for 2026 is precise and clear, centering on four key areas:

Image Source: Geely Auto

First is the acceleration of AI technology, making intelligence the core of technical evolution. Geely states its newly released Full-Domain AI 2.0 enables global coordination across vehicle domains. The Geely G-ASD 3.0 assisted driving system—empowered by behavioral models—demonstrates world-leading potential. This year, the G-ASD H7 solution will be rolled out across several new Lynk & Co and Geely Galaxy models. Meanwhile, the hyper-humanoid intelligent agent Eva will deliver enhanced interaction and cabin-driving integration.

Focusing on energy diversification, Geely is adhering to a multi-technology approach. In green methanol—a field it has cultivated for over 20 years—new models featuring fifth-generation methanol hybrid technology will enter mass production this year. The company claims usage costs can drop as low as 0.2 yuan per kilometer, with plans to expand methanol refueling network coverage to 60%. In the electric hybrid and pure electric sectors, an 800V high-voltage platform will be introduced to the Geely Galaxy brand to improve charging and range. In the first half of the year, Geely will launch i-HEV intelligent dual-engine technology; this hybrid system, featuring "AI Cloud Power," targets fuel consumption of just 3 liters per 100 kilometers.

Leading value upgrades through luxury experiences, the push for product premiumization is unmistakable. Following the ZEEKR 9X, another flagship—the ZEEKR 8X—will soon debut. Its key technological highlight is what is claimed to be "the world's only full-stack 900V high-voltage power system in the hybrid sector," integrated with core technologies like a proprietary 2.0T hybrid-dedicated engine, aiming to reset performance benchmarks. The next-generation G-ASD system will also make its first appearance on this vehicle.

Expanding its international footprint, Geely is shifting its global strategy from "international trade" to a "product-oriented" approach. The company emphasizes that it will advance product adaptation and localized operations in key markets, aiming to build systematic local capabilities and ultimately complete the leap from "Made in China" to a "Global Brand."

Shunning Cutthroat Competition to Focus on a "Value War"

The Chinese auto industry has weathered unprecedented noise over the past few years. With the rise of new forces and an influx of cross-border players, traffic and hype briefly became the sole metrics of success. Yet, as the marathon enters its second half and the tide recedes, it becomes clear who was swimming naked.

Against a backdrop of white-hot competition, Gan Jiayue set the tone in his letter. He stated that Geely will resolutely reject the vicious cycle of "involution"—or cutthroat internal competition—shifting instead to internal growth. The focus will be on fighting battles based on technology, quality, branding, service, and corporate ethics.

"What we pursue is never a fleeting trend, but forever holding to the righteous path of our business and perpetually focusing on user value," Gan Jiayue declared.

This is not an empty slogan, but a statement backed by deep technological reserves. In Geely's view, "value" is constructed from three dimensions: safeguarding safety for users, injecting upward momentum into the industry, and shouldering the responsibilities of the times for society.

"Safety for all" is the underlying logic Geely emphasizes repeatedly. While the rest of the industry races to compare screen sizes and computing power in TOPS, Geely views safety as a gene etched into its bones.

Image Source: Geely Auto

In 2025, Geely completed and opened the world's largest and most comprehensively equipped full-domain safety center, proactively sharing core technologies like one-touch window breaking and battery safety patent clusters with the industry. This "tech for good" approach appears particularly rare in a fiercely competitive business environment, demonstrating the stature of Geely as a leading industry player.

2026 marks the 40th anniversary of Geely's founding. The internal letter defines this as the starting point of a "second startup," requiring the team to carry forward the entrepreneurial spirit and maintain resolve for the long haul.