Geely’s 2011 sales stood at 421,385 units, which fell short of the predicted 480,000 units that the company had originally aimed for, according to Geely 2012′s sales goal is 460,000 units, which equates to a 9% increase over 2011′s original sales goals.

In 2012 Geely will launch a series of new models in hot selling segments such as MPV’s and SUV’s, which will likely boost the companies sales.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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So how does the IG work? According to the concept, the IG was similar in mechanics to the BYD F3DM, a small 1.0L engine mated to a hybrid drive train to propel the miniature IG forwards and backwards on demand and seemingly switching from electric to gasoline power when required or when needed. As the solar panels have been nuked from the IG production model (judging by the images above) it could be that the IG will come as a pure EV, or perhaps it could come as a pure gasoline version with no hybrid system – saving money for the end consumer.

Gull wing doors everyone, I’m going to be top of the waiting list.

FrankF

Frank entered the automotive industry via his father's instructions. He grew up with cars around him, especially as his father was a major auto restorer, Frank's childhood was spent passing beers, tools and coffee to his father whilst he explained the ins and outs of engines. Frank now works in the Chinese car industry at a specific manufacturer.

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The Englon SC7 with six speed is expected to hit the market in October and will be joining the list of very few cars priced at 100,000rmb with a six speed gearbox. Why Geely did not introduce this gearbox to the more upmarket Emgrand range first is still a mystery.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Geely Emgrand EC8

Whilst other Chinese manufacturers are busy entering developing markets, only SAIC have been able to grab the bull by the horns and enter a mature Western market with its products. The MG6 launched in the UK earlier this year and was quickly followed up by the launch of the MG6 Saloon which is essentially the Roewe 550 from the Chinese market but rebranded and rebadged for the UK markets, eventually SAIC will move the MG brand into continental Europe.

Geely are now also gearing up to take on the UK market with their Emgrand range, Geely will have to do a great amount of ground work before introducing the Emgrand range into the UK market – they will first work with their partners at LTI in the UK to start aftermarket services and auto part sales to the UK market and will eventually launch the Emgrand range of cars to UK markets.

The Emgrand series of vehicles are expected to undergo European Whole Vehicle Type Approval standards testing later this year and could be on the market as early as 2013. Geely have also been working on a series of small displacement diesel engines which are of course aimed at thrifty consumers in mature European and Australian markets.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Pricing is expected to be from 48,000rmb and rising, Geely are going to place a 1.3L engine into the RV and a 1.3T is expected to follow at a later date.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The proposed factory in DaQing city will produce the XC60, an unknown MPV and also a range of sedans. The investment in the factory is to be around 4.5 billion RMB.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Chinese car maker Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. (0175.HK) said Wednesday it expects to double its export car sales in 2011 amid a gradual global economic recovery.The company’s 2011 export car sales will likely reach 40,000 to 50,000 units, up from the 20,555 units sold in 2010, Chief Executive Gui Sheng Yue told reporters after a shareholders’ meeting.

Gui said the unit of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., which in August completed a US$1.8 billion acquisition of Volvo Cars from Ford Motor Co., is planning to expand its products in developed markets such as the U.S., but didn’t elaborate.

He added the car maker hopes to announce details of cooperation with Volvo Cars, particularly in technical areas, in two to three months. He declined to elaborate.

Government stimulus measures designed to encourage auto purchases during the global economic downturn helped China overtake the U.S. as the world’s biggest auto market in 2009. Although auto-sales growth in China remained fast at the start of 2010, the pace has moderated since the second half as sales incentives have been withdrawn.

China’s overall auto sales rose 32.4% to 18.06 million units in 2010, but the increase in sales will likely slow to 10%-15% this year, the semi-official China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said in January.

Geely Automobile, which competes with state-owned Dongfeng Motor Group Co. and Shenzhen-based BYD Co., aims to sell 480,000 cars in 2011, up around 15% from last year.

Export car sales accounted for around 5% of Geely’s total sales last year.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Engine power will come from Geely’s own 1.3 Turbo engine, which is not likely to be as powerful as MG’s 1.5T unit (should that ever find its way into the MG3) but will likely be enough to light up the wheels at the traffic lights.

As per usual with Geely, this is not a concept car (Geely never show concept cars…) and will see production very soon.

Pictures by Mark Andrews.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Bertel Schmit of The Truth About Cars was also caught in the same scrum, but with him practically being a German-American he wasn’t quite ready to pull back and fired off a few shots on his camera before retreating to a safer area with no overzealous body guards.

When car company CEO’s enter their stands on media day to inspect the cars its highly likely they will get mobbed by the assembled journalists, which is why most CEO’s wait until before or after the show to put their face in, or they arrive via a fenced off area, having your black shirted pot bellied goons push journalists aside just leaves a very acidic after taste.

Ash

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Geely owns a good slice of British company, Manganese Bronze, that produce the London black cab in the UK as well as China, the problem with the current TX4 taxi cab is that its just too big and too expensive for the Chinese market. The major problem is the price, the TX4 stats at 250,000rmb where as your average VW Jetta is 80,000rmb, so it is obvious what taxi drivers in China are going to plump for. The second big problem is the cost of building the TX4, it uses is own proprietary chassis that can’t be shared with anything else in the Geely stable, so Geely’s ultimate solution was to redevelop the Black Cab for China’s streets with a design based on something that already existed in their platform portfolio.

The chances of this being produced are actually quite high, Geely would love to strike at the taxi market with a specific vehicle that can take thousands of orders per year.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The Moka is Geely’s attempt at showing what we might be driving in the future, a modular hybrid car that allows motorists to connect together to jointly use their combined power for happy motoring.

Power will be derived from a traditional gasoline engine and two sets of batteries to give a hybrid power train and on demand all wheel drive. When the cars are seperated and in motorbike mode they will be under electric power, but when they are joined together they will use gasoline power. Geely says that the batteries can be juiced upto 80% full in just 15 minutes and should be able to go for 650kph on full tanks of juice and gas.

Perhaps Geely would have been better off showing this on the first of this month.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Enter Geely: Geely produced the Emgrand EC7 mid range sedan in late 2010 with a 1.8 gasoline engine, now they are readying a mild hybrid version named the EC7 GSG that has a larger than normal alternator and battery on board which allows for stop/start situations, if you pull upto the traffic lights or a junction and depress the accelerator the engine automatically cuts out and starts again once the accelerator is pressed. This system is considered a mild hybrid but does cut out gas use when sitting idling, it seems like a perfect short term solution.

Want to know what GSG stands for? Geely Stop-Go. Brilliant.

FrankF

Frank entered the automotive industry via his father's instructions. He grew up with cars around him, especially as his father was a major auto restorer, Frank's childhood was spent passing beers, tools and coffee to his father whilst he explained the ins and outs of engines. Frank now works in the Chinese car industry at a specific manufacturer.

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Look out for this at the Shanghai Auto Show next week!

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Geely-Volvo

Volvo is expected to unveil its business strategy in China for the next five years on the afternoon of February 25, and the company’s local production plan is undoubtedly the core content of the strategy.

Volvo’s production site has been a hot topic for a long time. Dongguan, Beijing, Tianjin, Chengdu, Daqing, Shanghai and Shijiazhuang all became candidates via industry rumor for a local factory, and the range of candidates then narrowed to Chengdu, Daqing and Shanghai after leaking of Volvo’s internal documents.

Volvo has just taken its first step in what will be a long road. They now have to choose which products under go localization and which locally produced products will compete with imported models, and which parts will be sourced from within China, and more importantly how Volvo will guarantee locally made product quality. There are lots of problems on the road ahead, Volvo won’t be able to solve all of them in the short term but they are expected to do well in the Chinese market.

SusanZhao

Susan is an English major from Xi Dian University in Xi’an, she majored in Technical English and worked for the English based news company Sino Cast. She later made the move to Shanghai in 2008 and made a name for herself at a translator in the automotive industry.

Geely-Volvo

Volvo seems to intent on making its next car factory in Chengdu according to this Reuters report. Other cities had been mentioned, including Beijing, Shanghai and for some unknown reason, Daqing, but it appears that Chengdu has won out. So why Chengdu? Because its in inland China and thus close to the next big market: Western China.

Swedish carmaker Volvo, owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, has finalised its decision to make Volvo cars in southwestern China, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.Geely, parent of Geely Automobile Holdings (0175.HK), took over Volvo from Ford Motor (F.N) in August 2010, marking China’s largest auto acquisition.

Since then, several Chinese cities, including Shanghai and the northeastern city of Daqing, have been competing fiercely for Volvo’s China car plant, which could be a major boost to the local economy.

“They have decided to make Volvo cars in Chengdu. Shanghai will be Volvo’s China headquarters and an R&D center,” a person who was briefed on the matter told Reuters.”

Earlier in the week, Geely chairman Li Shufu went to Chengdu where the automaker’s dealers and suppliers are holding their annual meetings, another person said.

Chengdu party boss Li Chuncheng and mayor Ge Honglin met Li again on Thursday, said another source with direct knowledge of the matter.

Geely already operates its own car plant in the Longquan economic development zone on the outskirts of Chengdu.

Expanding in China, the world’s biggest automarket, is key to Volvo’s goal of doubling sales to 800,000 units in 10 years, Chief Executive Officer Stefan Jacoby said.

Li said in September that Volvo may need as many as three car plants in China with a combined annual capacity of 300,000 units. [ID:nTOE68D027]

A Volvo spokesman in China declined to comment.

The Swedish car maker is scheduled to unveil its China strategies late next week.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Emgrand EC8

Geely’s January sales reached 45,634 units in January 2011 according to information released today. The sales are 4% higher than January 2010′s but 18.7% lower than December 2010′s sales.

The top sellers in January were the Freedom Vessel, King Kong, Vision and also Emgrand EC7 and EC8.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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At the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show Geely aired its self developed 2.4Lengine, codenamed JLδ-4G24, which produces 162bhp and 225Nm of torque. Whilst obviously low in the BHP department, the self developed engine is producing a good amount of torque for an engine of its size.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Geely’s Panda will be on of the first Geely cars to hit Aussie shores, although due Fiat owning the Panda name in pretty much every Western market the Geely Panda will become the Geely LC down under. The good news is that Geely Australia will be managed by the same company that took Hyundai to new heights in Australia.

The appeal of launching in Australia is quite enticing for Chinese car makers, the Australian market is a fairly small market but it does give them a first taste of what they can expect when they reach American or European shores and can essentially form part of their test bed for their worldwide expansion. Greatwall have already entered into the Australian market and appear to be gaining good sales so far.

From the Rouse Hill Times

Launching an unknown brand in Australia’s overpopulated car market is a risky venture for any company. For an individual, it’s virtually beyond belief.But Perth motor magnate John Hughes is doing just that with a Chinese brand called Geely (say it: ‘jee-lee’), and he has the reputation and track record to make it a household name.

He is largely credited with propelling Hyundai to success and the respected multi-franchise car dealer thinks Geely has the makings of another winner.

“Let’s say we’re hopeful about that,” he said.

The first model is now on sale at John Hughes Geely at the group’s Victoria Park headquarters.

It’s called the MK and is a 1.5-litre, 70kW four-cylinder sedan with manual transmission. It has airconditioning, dual airbags, remote central locking, alloy wheels, power windows and comes with a five-year warranty. And it sells for $11,990 drive-away. He has 100 of them in stock.

Arriving about mid-year will be the LC, a cute 1.3-litre city car, known as a Panda in some markets. “It will have to be called something else here because Fiat owns the Panda name,” Mr Hughes said. It will be followed by the CE, an update of the MK, which, like the LC, will have stability control and the option of automatic transmission. A stylish and bigger EC7, also called the Emgrand, will arrive towards year-end. It will have a 1.8-litre petrol engine and continuously variable transmission. Mr Hughes said the MK would be sold only in WA because it did not have electronic stability control or auto transmission, which would limit its appeal. “But those features are standard on the LC, the CE and the EC7, all of which will be sold nationally.”

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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For 2011, the original Geely cars such as the Freedom Vessel (Zi You Jian) are moving over to the Gleagle or Englon brands, the below Gleagle has been codenamed CK-2 and is essentially a modified version of the Geely Freedom Vessel that will be exported to developing markets in 2011 onwards.

Gleagle GC7

Sitting above the previously mentioned CK-2 will be the Gleagle GC7, a compact sedan that will be packing a 1.8L DVVT engine from Geely’s own line up. This sedan will measure in at (LxWxH) 4425mm x 1759 x 1470 and will have a wheelbase of 2600mm. The 1.8L 4G18 engine is Geely’s own engine and produces 138bhp and 172Nm of torque, a smaller 1.5L engine could be made available for the GC7 but rumors of a 2.0L diesel model are also circulating. 5 speed manual and six speed CVT gearboxes will also be available for the GC7.

Englon SC5

The Englon SC5-RV hatch has only just launched and kicked some life into the Englon brand, but the SC5 sedan is on its way too and is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2011. The SC5 seems very similar to the Chevrolet Sail in terms of style, but it could be that Geely and GM were both looking to make a good looking car on a budget and came out with similar designs at the end of the day.

On the power front the Englon SC5 will only be getting a 1.5L engine which produces 94bhp (69kw) and has a max torque of 128Nm when mated to a 5 speed gearbox. An even more basic 1.3L engine with 86bhp (63kw) and 110Nm of torque is being made available too.

Geely’s first MPV: Gleagle GV5

The Gleagle GV5 has been code named CE-3 within Geely and is Geely’s first attempt at an MPV. The Chinese MPV market is an odd one with vehicles aimed at business and home use, although the GV5 will easily fall into the home use category within China.

Englon SV5

This Englon SV5 will be Geely’s second MPV, but obviously under the Englon banner rather than the export Gleagle. Information on the SV5 is not exactly plentiful, we only know that it will be around 4.3m long and will have a wheelbase of around 2.7m and will be powered by a small 1.5L engine.

Englon SC6

The Englon SC6 might be more memorable to you as the Geely King Kong but updated for 2011. The King Kong was one of Geely’s earlier attempts at producing a mid range sedan and really set the template for Geely’s introduction of the Emgrand series of sedans in early 2010.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Geely-Volvo

Volvo China has established its new headquarters in Shanghai according to media reports from earlier today. The new headquarters will oversee the management of Volvo within the Chinese market and will also have an attached technology center were new technology and localization will be carried out.

Volvo CEO, Stefan Jacoby, was on hand in Shanghai to oversea the opening in person, Mr. Jacoby is aiming to position Volvo as a big competitor to Audi, Mercedes and BMW in the Chinese market, of course the German three have already had a great head start but by adding a local tech center to their Chinese operation Volvo will be able to produce cars that are more in tune with local tastes and requirements. Volvo China has had a sting of personnel issues in the past few months with several high key members of staff leaving their posts for unknown reasons.

China has become a decisive battle ground for the worlds leading luxury car makers and 2011  will be an interesting year for the market with Volvo launching its S60 in March and also BMW expecting to introduce a stretched 3-Series to complete with the Audi A4L. Audi will continue to expand its sports line up in 2011 also and will introduce the new A6L in late 2011.

Volvo’s current Chinese production is handled by Chang’an-Volvo, a joint venture that was set up under Ford’s ownership of Volvo and currently has a very limited production capacity. Under Geely’s ownership Volvo are planning to set up three factories in China and are pinning their hopes on much improved Chinese auto sales in 2011 to help turn their sales position around.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The new China-based owners of Volvo and the Swedish car maker’s management team are considering exporting Volvos assembled in China to the U.S.—a potentially risky move that might harm the brand’s Scandinavian identity and could make it among the first to bring China-made vehicles to the U.S.New Volvo Chief Executive Stefan Jacoby said he sees the idea as a way to help his company reduce foreign-exchange risk.

Exporting made-in-China Volvos is “one opportunity” Volvo is exploring with China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., its new owner, as part of a strategic plan it is preparing for release by March, Mr. Jacoby said.

The strategy is focused heavily on an effort to boost demand for Volvos in China by putting in place more capacity to make the cars there and develop more luxurious and large vehicles.

Another option the company is weighing is to build a Volvo assembly plant in the U.S., an individual close to Geely said. But Volvo and Geely essentially have decided to assemble Volvos in China, Mr. Jacoby said in an interview on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show this week. He said Volvo is likely to build new manufacturing capacity in multiple locations.

But the decision hasn’t been made on whether to export China-made vehicles to the U.S. and elsewhere. Any production plan for China must be approved by the Chinese government.

Ford Motor Co., which sold Volvo to Geely, has been producing Volvo cars in China for several years and will continue to do so for Geely and Volvo. But none of these vehicles are exported to the U.S.

Volvo is trying to reduce currency-exchange risk around the world, especially the euro-U.S. dollar exchange that has eroded the profitability of shipping to the U.S. Volvos produced in Sweden and Belgium.

“The major challenge here in the U.S. is that we’re too dependent on euro-U.S. dollar exchange rates,” Mr. Jacoby said.

“China offers an opportunity in that respect. It doesn’t get rid of but at least allows us to reduce currency risk exposure.” The Volvo CEO cited the relative stability of the Chinese yuan against the dollar.

The move would mean Volvo would tread onto the unbeaten path to sell Chinese-manufactured premium cars in advanced markets such as the U.S., although Honda Motor Co. has been exporting a compact car it produces in China to Europe for several years.

While many Americans readily accept a multitude of products made in China, including high-tech gear such as computers and iPhones, almost no China-made vehicles are sold in the country.

Two individuals close to Volvo and Geely said that while the Hangzhou-based auto maker, which finalized its acquisition of Volvo last year, would welcome the move, its wisdom is likely to become “a point of contention” with Volvo’s board.

As part of the consideration to export Volvos from China, Volvo and Geely are mulling whether to build a new Volvo assembly plant in the southwestern China city of Chengdu, next to a nearly completed Geely factory.

Geely Chairman Li Shufu told The Wall Street Journal in September that Geely and Volvo were looking at revamping an existing facility to make Volvos as a way to quickly start producing in China and boost sales.

Mr. Li said at the time that Volvo and Geely plan to build as many as three assembly plants in China to make a total of up to 300,000 of the Swedish brand’s vehicles a year, and that they were looking at Chengdu, Shanghai and the northeastern city of Daqing as possible sites.

This week, one of the knowledgeable individuals said the company instead was leaning toward building a new plant in Chengdu, which would allow Volvo to implement and carry out “Volvo production systems” in producing Volvo cars from the ground up.

That, he said, might help ease the possible reluctance of American and other global consumers to buy made-in-China Volvos.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Korean auto parts maker Mando said Tuesday it has signed a deal with China’s Geely Auto to set up a parts manufacturer in China.

Mando will hold a 65 percent stake and Geely 35 percent in the joint venture with capital of US$85 million.

Construction of plants will begin in March in the Zhejiang Province cities of Ningbo and Taizhou with an aim to be finished by October.

For those that fail to understand the gravity of this joint venture, here’s a brief run down: Mando is one of the largest original equipment manufacturers in South Korea, it is also one of the best in the business and is a regular supplier of steering parts, brakes and suspension parts – think of it as a “Korean Bosch“. By working with Mando Geely is certainly taking another huge step in the right direction, five years from now Geely’s own branded cars will be world class.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Geely-Volvo

Volvo maybe Chinese owned but they are fairly adamant about keeping their Swedish roots in Europe, however in their new Chinese home they are expecting to reach sales of 200,000 units within the Chinese market by 2015, in contrast in 2010 they achieved sales of just over 30,000 units.

“I would say (China will be the No. 1 market) in the next couple of years — hopefully one year,” Volvo Car China Chairman Freeman Shen told Reuters on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show.

“We are looking at a strategy of making China a second home market. Today we mainly only have one home market, in Sweden,” he said in an interview.

Sweden’s own Volvo sales sit an impressive 60,000 units – double China’s current sales tally, to gain more market share Geely are expecting to help Volvo grow its dealership network to 260 dealers, as it stands now the Volvo network is a mere 100 dealers. A series of factories are also set to be built in China, Daqing, Chengdu and Beijing are set to be the new home of three Volvo factories in China and will strategically cover the biggest automotive growth areas in the next few years, the lack of a factory in Eastern China shows that Volvo are primarily looking at capturing market share in new growth areas in China’s central, western and northern areas.

Now that Volvo is technically a Chinese company, it can be expected that Volvo will take a large share from the government procurement list – a list that has so far been the domain of Audi A6′s, will we be seeing a future Chairman riding in an S80L? More than likely.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The EC7 is one of the first self developed Chinese sedans that has gained a 5-star safety accolade from CNCAP, the safety body responsible for crash testing cars. The Emgrand EC7 received13.61 points for a head on collision, 14.41 points for a 40% offset test, 15.8% for the side impact crash test giving it a total of 46.8 points and a five star result from CNCAP. This is not Geely’s first car to achieve 5 stars, the Panda also received a 5 star award when tested.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Geely-Volvo

From Bloomberg:

Volvo Cars, the Swedish carmaker acquired by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., is leaning toward starting production in the city of Chengdu to boost sales in the country, according to a Volvo board member.

The board agreed at a meeting in Gothenburg yesterday that taking over an existing Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. factory in the southwestern Chinese city and converting it to produce Volvo cars would be the cornerstone of Volvo’s China strategy, said Marko Peltonen, who represents the IF Metall union on the board. No decision has been taken, he said.

“To have a Volvo factory in Chengdu is the main track,” Peltonen said by telephone late yesterday. “It wouldn’t be a mixed factory, it would only be a Volvo factory.”

Zhejiang Geely bought Volvo from Ford Motor Co. in August for about $1.5 billion. Expanding in China is key to Volvo’s goal of doubling sales to 800,000 cars in 10 years, Chief Executive Officer Stefan Jacoby has said. Jacoby said in October that Volvo may need as many as three plants in China.

Volvo hasn’t set a timeframe for a decision, Peltonen said. “Decisions also have to be made by local Chinese governments,” he said, adding that he doesn’t know if the existing Geely production at the factory would be moved elsewhere.

FrankF

Frank entered the automotive industry via his father's instructions. He grew up with cars around him, especially as his father was a major auto restorer, Frank's childhood was spent passing beers, tools and coffee to his father whilst he explained the ins and outs of engines. Frank now works in the Chinese car industry at a specific manufacturer.

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In August, China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group acquired Volvo Car Corporation and said a manufacturing facility would be built in Shanghai. Geely added that it would maintain Swedish headquarters and the plants in Sweden and Belgium.

Mr Paul de Voijs, Managing Director, Volvo Auto India, told Business Line that the Chinese facility would be dedicated to meeting local demand and that there were no plans to ship cars to India.

Further, Volvo’s Dutch and Swedish factories were equipped to supply 2,000 to 3,000 units annually if needed.

Transport costs

The cost of transporting each unit by sea works out to about $1200 from Antwerp to Kochi, which is far more economical than investing in a manufacturing facility in India now (given the numbers), Mr de Voijs added.

In any case, there were no duty benefits if the car was made in India and sold to Asean countries. While the present import duty in India is 130 per cent, any reduction would be beneficial, he said.

The new factory in China, with an annual capacity of three lakh cars, will come up at Jiading Industrial Zone and produce Volvo’s luxury range of C30 and V70 cars. Production is likely to begin in end-2012.

Barely a fortnight ago, Volvo launched its compact luxury SUV, the XC60, in India which will be imported as a completely built unit from its facility in Ghent, Belgium.

The company sells two premium models in India, the luxury SUV XC90 and luxury sedan Volvo S80, whose sales last year totalled 114 units.

Incidentally, the first batch of XC60, comprising 45 units and likely to reach India by end-January, has already been sold.

As for sourcing components from India, Mr de Voijs said it was about $100 million two years ago when Volvo was part of Ford. Nearly 40 suppliers served the combine.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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From China Daily:

China’s leading private-run carmaker, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, began selling cars online Monday to tap into the purchasing power of the nation’s hundreds of millions of netizens.

Geely, which took over Volvo Car Corp. this year, said in a statement that it has opened a flagship store on Taobao Mall, a major e-commerce website.

Geely added that it now sells Gleagle Panda-branded cars and planned to add more, including models specially designed for online customers and auto interior products, to its online store at a later date.

Additionally, traditional dealers will offer test-driving and after-sales services to online customers, it said.

“The Internet, if well used, would bring a rather big surprise to Chinese automakers,” said Liu Jinliang, vice president of Geely.

Online shopping is becoming increasingly popular in China. The country had 420 million netizens as of June, while Taobao has 300 million registered users.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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SWEDISH car maker Volvo and its new Chinese owner Geely are in talks over new plants in China, a Volvo spokesman said on Friday, amid a report that Volvo and its owner were at odds over expansion.Geely, which acquired the Swedish car maker from US giant Ford in August, said in September it planned to increase Volvo sales to 300,000 cars a year in China alone.

Company chairman Li Shufu said he wanted three new Volvo plants in China to produce that volume.

But Volvo’s management wants to hold off on expansion for now, the Financial Times said on Friday.

Members of Volvo’s Gothenburg-based management ‘will not decide about investing if they don’t have a business case with black figures and good margin’, a person familiar with the discussions the British newspaper.

The person described the discussions as ‘heated, not acrimonious’. Volvo spokesman Per-Aake Froeberg told AFP on Friday that Volvo and Geely were in talks over expansion in China and that management would take a decision on ‘the first step of localised production in China … within a couple of months.’ ‘It’s a natural thing that there are discussions about such an important matter as the Volvo car strategy for China,’ he said.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Emgrand EX7 SUV

At the Beijing Auto Show, Geely’s PR department were eager to point out that the vast majority of their 20+ cars on show that day were not actually concepts but production ready cars, including this EX7 SUV.

The EX7 will be Geely’s mid size offerings and will be on the market from early next year with an official launch at the Guangzhou Auto Show. The Emgrand EX7 is expected to be priced high, due to its high quality in car technology and also the level of quality is expected to be much higher than other Geely models.

Emgrand is Geely’s ‘premium’ brand and has so far seen the release of the EC7 and EC8 sedans and hatchbacks the EX7 will be one of their fist SUV offerings.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The first model is the EV7:

GV5

The GV5 is the second MPV in the Geely lineup:

The Geely SV5:

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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As a Chinese company, Volvo is likely to gain unprecedented access to the government procurement register and will likely unseat Audi as the luxury car of choice for government big wigs.

From Bloomberg:

Volvo Cars, the automaker owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., plans to hire a team of designers in China to cater to local tastes as the Swedish manufacturer prepares for its next model.

The designers would work at a research center being set up in Shanghai�s Jiading district, said design chief Peter Horbury. Volvo�s next model, co-designed by Horbury and predecessor Stephen Mattin and planned for 2012, will be in the premium compact segment, said Per-Ake Froberg, a Volvo spokesman. Rival vehicles would include Audi�s A3 and BMW�s 1-Series.

�If the Chinese or the Americans want more chrome on the grille, why would we say no to that just because we don�t have that in Sweden?� Horbury, 60, said in a Nov. 1 interview at Volvo�s headquarters in Gothenburg. �In a global market there�s still a cultural difference in tastes and requirements.�

China is key to Chief Executive Officer Stefan Jacoby�s goal of doubling sales to 800,000 cars in a decade. Design that appeals more to buyers in China and the U.S., the world�s two biggest auto markets, would help Volvo reposition itself as an upscale brand to take on Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Volkswagen AG�s Audi, the luxury-car leader in China.

�If they want to get deeper into that market it�s critical they understand what�s going on in China,� said Ashvin Chotai, managing director at Intelligence Automotive Asia Ltd. in London. �It�s certainly natural that they study it very thoroughly.�

Three Plants

Volvo has no plan to release China-specific models and will focus on features for Chinese customers, Horbury said. While no final decision has been made on a design team, Volvo may hire the designers �not too far into next year.�

The Swedish automaker may build as many as three manufacturing plants in China, CEO Jacoby said in an interview last week in Stockholm. Jacoby led VW�s North American operations, including Audi, before joining Volvo in August.

Audi was the first German luxury-car maker to build a model specifically for China. The Ingolstadt-based VW unit introduced an A6 sedan in 2000 that�s 13 centimeters (5.1 inches) longer to cater to customers who want to be chauffeured, spokesman Eric Felber said. Audi began selling an extended A4 sedan in China last year.

BMW and Daimler AG�s Mercedes-Benz introduced their first cars designed for the Chinese market this year. The top two luxury-car makers each added 14 centimeters to the BMW 5-Series and Mercedes E-Class sedans. Mercedes is also considering an extended version of the entry-level C-Class sedan, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said in April.

Not Just Size

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, BMW�s ultra-luxury unit, has outfitted vehicles with unique options such as gold-plated Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornaments and starlight roofliners that depict astrological signs, said Marco Jahn, a Roll-Royce spokesman. Chinese beliefs also influence customers� choice of colors, with red linked to luck, and buyers are keen to get vehicle identification numbers that contain numbers associated with fortune, such as �8.�

�Chinese designers would be able to send us ideas for what they would see as potentially being successful in China, and then we would blend that into our Scandinavian-flavored design,� Horbury said.

Horbury returned to Volvo in May of last year from Ford Motor Co., where he most recently headed the North American design team. He had been Volvo�s design chief between 1991 and 2002, during which time he gave a curved-shape to the previously boxy models.

Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford completed a sale of Volvo to Geely in August for about $1.5 billion.

Sloping Windscreen

The next new Volvo with Horbury as sole design chief may come around 2013, as he said it typically takes four years from design start to production.

Volvo in recent months introduced the new S60 sedan and the V60 station wagon, cars that maintain Scandinavian clean lines while adding sportier features like the wagon�s sloping rear windscreen. Volvo aims to sell 380,000 cars this year. In China, it sold 24,489 cars through October, an increase of 45 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Volvo needs to pay more attention to details such as how it feels to turn the door handle or the smoothness of the air vents, Horbury said. Audi �has been doing that for years now. They�ve led the way in what I call perceived quality,� he said.

By late next year, Volvo plans to roll out test fleets of its electric vehicle in China, California and European markets including Belgium and the Netherlands, said Lennart Stegland, head of Volvo�s special vehicles unit, in a separate interview. Volvo started taking orders for its electric car last month in Sweden, and will start deliveries in April, he said.

Volvo aims for its electric car and its plug-in hybrid, which will be released in 2012, to start making a profit in two to three years and together account for as much as much as 6 percent of deliveries by 2020, Stegland said.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The SC5-RV seems to be a cleverly thought out vehicle judging by the above pictures where there are plenty of storage spaces and also the DVD/GPS system. Engine information has not been revealed yet, but a 1.3l and a 1.5l are likely to be put installed the RV.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Whilst the GX2 has no SUV pretensions, especially with its front wheel drive system that derives power from a 1.5L producing 75kw and 136Nm of torque, it does have all the looks of a more rugged off-roader. The gaping, mouth ajar grill has finally been wiped away from the GX2 in favor of a much improved honeycomb style affair. The car was tested by the Chinese automotive website autohome.com.cn who found the GX2 to be of fairly good quality and impressive performance, which is something that CCT would be in agreement with. At a recent Beijing Automotive Parts show Geely had a Panda on display and we were able to go over it with a fine tooth comb, the Panda is an impressive vehicle in terms of build quality especially for its price segment, it appears that the GX2 will go on to continue with the Panda’s excellent quality.

Pictures from autohome.com.cn

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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