Geely Group eyes further expansion in Saudi market

Zawya - Leading Chinese auto manufacturer Geely Group recently hosted a group of media personnel from Saudi Arabia to visit some of its automotive plants in China, as part of the company's keenness in expanding its market in the Kingdom.

The company plans further expansion over the coming years, in cooperation with its Saudi agent - Haji Hussain Alireza & Co. Ltd.

The Saudi media delegation, together with some 300 Chinese media representatives, were present at the launching ceremony of Geely's new KC concept cars. The KC concept is a fastback-based sedan that showcases Geely's advanced research and design capabilities. The delegation had also a special meeting with Dr. Zhang Lin, Vice President of Geely Holding Group and Director General for International Markets.

Speaking on the occasion, Lin said his group attaches great significance to the Saudi market in its future expansion plans. "We will continue giving a five-year guarantee and may extend it beyond that period. It took nine months for us to develop the new KC model car, and it is a record time considering the fact that normally it takes between three and four years.

The exterior design of KC borrows heavily from classical Chinese history points with new model updates. Geely continued to push its range of market leading technologies and internationally applauded car models with new model updates and the launch of a new concept car that showcases Geely's advanced research and design capabilities.

The KC makes use of daylight running lights to further enhance the strong lines, the headlights and grill combine to form a unified graphic which gives the impression of distinctive stone bridges which feature heavily in classical Chinese art. The fog lamps also take design cues from classical Chinese art, with them being similar in style to Chinese ornamentation to give a functional and aesthetic appeal.

Husam Hanbali, general manager Sales and Marketing of Haji Hussain Alireza & Co., said that they will launch Geely's first SUV Emgrand X7 model in the Kingdom in the near future after the successful launch of Emgrand X7 last year. "We launched Geely's cars in the local market when prices of other Japanese cars were very high. Our start was with four models - LC Panda, GX2, EC7 and EC8, and we presented good products with Japanese technologies at reasonable rates, and the sales were satisfactory in the first year after the launch."

According to Hanbali, more than 13,000 Geely cars were sold in the Saudi market in 2011 and this makes up 1.7 percent of the volume of auto sales.

"We have sales target of 18,000 this year, after the launch of SUV Emgrand X7 this month, and this represents more than two percent of the volume of sales. Last year, our rank was 8th in the auto sales and this year our target is the seventh position," he said. Hanbali said that his company has an excellent distribution network with 20 branches across the Kingdom, and there is a plan to open branches in Taif, Hofuf and Jubail.

Haijing Hou, Vice President Geely Group and General Manager of Geely's Chengdu SUV assembly plant, said that the plant's annual capacity is 80,000 units and the capacity will be doubled to 160,000 units in the near future.

"At present, the plant manufactures 250 cars daily and this will be increased to 500. We sell nearly 85 percent of our cars in the local market and only 15 percent is for exports. Our target is to increase the ratio of local sale and export to 50:50 in future," he said.

Haji Hussain Alireza & Co. Ltd was named as Geely's best distributor and the best auto agent for after sale services during the year 2012. The prizes were distributed at a function held at the headquarters of the group in Hangzhou, China. Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Group, and An Conghui, President of Geely Group, handed the prizes to Sheikh Khalid Alireza, Director and Financial Planning Manager of Haji Hussain Alireza & Co. and the company's After Sales Services Manager Mazen Ashari.