Build Geely Using Volvo's European Factories! Overseas Market Target Raised to 920,000 Vehicles!

Recently, Geely's series of moves were quite aggressive. Besides the adjustments in executive management, the layout and specific operations of the overseas market also have clearer plans. First, regarding sales targets, Geely's 2026 exports were raised from 640,000 vehicles to 920,000 vehicles, challenging an annual sales volume of one million.

In the first half of the year, Geely's overseas sales were approximately 480,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 158%. With the traditional peak season of the second half of the year, Geely's standard for raising the sales target is very pragmatic, and there is a high probability of successfully challenging an annual sales volume of one million vehicles.

Meanwhile, Geely Holding Group CEO An Conghui stated: Volvo's factories in Europe will become an important base for Geely's European strategy, undertaking the production of high-end luxury cars within the Geely Automobile Group, expected to start production in 2028. Looking at the data, Volvo's year-on-year decline in the European market in 2025 was 10%, dropping to approximately 332,700 vehicles.

Entering the first quarter of 2026, Volvo's sales in Europe and other regions worldwide were 95,335 vehicles, a further year-on-year decline of 2%. Global sales from March to May were 179,000 vehicles, a year-on-year drop of 5.5%. The surge in Geely's sales in the overseas market can just utilize Volvo factories' idle capacity, which is quite reasonable.

Meanwhile, regarding layout in other overseas markets, Geely previously acquired Proton's factory in Malaysia. After upgrading, it has an annual production capacity of 500,000 vehicles to meet the needs of the Southeast Asian market. In South America, it relies on Renault Brazil's industrial collaboration, sharing manufacturing resources and market channels between the two parties, significantly reducing the investment cost of building its own factories.

Additionally, in July this year, Geely and Ford also reached an agreement. Both parties will establish a joint venture company in Valencia, Spain. Through capacity sharing, they will create various new energy vehicle models for the Ford and Geely brands for the European market. From this perspective, Geely's layout in the overseas market is mainly to revitalize the group's various brand resources, or establish joint venture companies with other brands, trying to avoid the high investment of building factories alone, and also serving a role in risk avoidance.