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Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which also includes Volvo Cars, has become the tenth best-selling car manufacturer in the world. That's notable in part because more than a third of its revenue now comes from sales of plug-in vehicles, and the company could be a 100% plug-in vehicle company by 2030 or so. It is also notable because BYD is hot on its heels, is by far the leader in the Chinese plug-in vehicle market and the global plug-in vehicle market, and is already a 100% plug-in vehicle company.
Geely yes 730,000 vehicles sold in the first quarter of 2024, and it was more than 250,000 plug-in vehicle sales. As the Chinese market becomes increasingly electrified and Volvo Cars sees an increasing percentage of its sales in Europe and North America plug-in, I expect Geely to quickly reach 50% plug-in sales. Also consider that it has 100% electric brands: Zeekr, Polestar and Lynk & Co.
There has been much debate over whether Chinese automakers can freely sell electric vehicles in the US and Europe or whether they have to pay high tariffs on such imports. However, it has more or less gone under the radar that Volvo Cars and Polestar are now effectively Chinese brands and well embedded in those markets. That said, my goodness, Zeekr's vehicles bring a lot of on the table and would be a nice addition to the EV offering in these markets. I was never a big fan of Polestar vehicles and like Volvo's EVs, but nothing spectacular, but Zeekr's EVs are about as good as it gets. It will be interesting to see how well the brand can grow outside of China.
In the first quarter of 2023, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group ranked twelfth globally in terms of car sales. The two automakers it passed in 2024 to rise to 10th place were Mercedes-Benz Group and BMW Group. Geely's group sales rose 27% year on year. Zeekr's turnover more than doubled, while Volvo Cars saw a 12% increase in turnover.
It is striking that the first quarter of the year is weak for Chinese car manufacturers due to the long Chinese New Year. So expect Geely to not only maintain its position globally, but likely even rise further in the rankings.
Although most of the company's turnover takes place in China, Geely is growing the most outside of China. Sales outside the home country increased by 43% between January and March. (Note that BYD – the company we talk about more when it comes to developing electric vehicles And developed countries around the world – saw a 150% growth in their foreign sales in the first quarter!)
The question for me now is: how high can Geely rise? Can it rise to 7th, 6th or even 5th in the global car manufacturer rankings? It may be doing its job quietly, but I think it can be done. I expect Geely to compete for a top five spot in 2030. What do you expect?
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