Geely’s Li Shufu confirms plan of building new EV company

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Geely will build an all-new electric vehicle (EV) company to compete head-on with other manufacturers of intelligent battery electric vehicles (BEVs), Li Shufu, chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said on Feb. 20 in an internal letter.

Mr. Li said the company has hammered out two “Blue Geely” initiatives and the establishment of the new EV venture is part of the one that focuses on smart BEVs. The other one is dedicated to the development of energy-saving and new energy vehicles (NEVs), including hybrid electric vehicle (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs) as well as energy-saving low-emission vehicles. For this part, traditional energy-saving vehicles only account for 10% of total sales.  

Photo credit: Geely Holding

The “Blue Geely” initiatives are made based on the revolution of global automotive industry and the change of industrial application environment, said Li Shufu. They break through a new area of smart all-electric vehicles, while retain Geely's advantages in conventional energy-saving vehicles and NEV fields.

At the critical moment for Geely's transition to being a mobility technology provider, the company should not only maintain its core merits in the manufacture of traditional electromechanical devices, quality assurance and cost control, but also develop emerging technologies, such as human-machine interaction, autonomous driving, EV charging and battery swapping facilities, energy management, intelligent mobility service and Industrial Internet, said Mr. Li.

Last month, Geely Holding stunned both the automobile and Internet industries last month by forming partnership with Faraday Future, Baidu, Foxconn and Tencent.

On Jan. 29, Geely Holding announced it had signed a framework agreement with Faraday Future (FF) to cooperate in technology and engineering support.

On Jan. 11, Baidu said it entered into a strategic partnership with Geely Holding while announcing its plan to establish a company to produce intelligent electric vehicles (EVs). Geely will offer the company its expertise in automobile design and manufacturing, involving its SEA (Sustainable Experience Architecture).

On Jan. 13, Geely Holding and Foxconn agreed to build a joint venture providing contract manufacturing and customized consulting services for global automakers and mobility service providers.

On Jan. 19, Geely Auto Group and Tencent inked agreement to carry out all-round strategic cooperation on smart cockpit, autonomous driving, digitalization and low carbon development.