Geely: A Traditional Automaker’s Re-invention
Traditional automakers have been on the edge of their seats as self-driving and electric tech shake up the entire industry landscape. Geely is among many that are struggling to ramp up sales volume and net profit while keeping up with (if not ahead of) the trend.
Shifting towards modulation production
The traditional automotive platform is for models at the same single level, while a modular platform can accommodate wider range of segments with benefits such as reduced R&D and production costs. Since Volkswagen launched the MQB platform in 2012, more and more auto OEMs began to adopt the modular strategy by building their own.
For a long period of time, Geely models such as Boyue, Vision and Emgrand series were built on the FE, NL or KC platforms. Since 2016, it has been taking steps towards universal modular scalable architectures with joint development of CMA (compact modular architecture) with Volvo, independent creation of BMA (B-segment modular architecture), and the latest launch of SEA (Sustainable Experience Architecture) dedicated to electric vehicles in September 2020.
Geely’s SEA was the result of four years of effort with over 18 billion investments. It can support the development of models with a wheelbase ranging from 1800mm to 3300mm covering the A to E market segment and even light commercial vehicles. The SEA supports flexible positioning of single or multiple motors for front-, rear- or all-wheel-drive configurations.
Furthermore, the SEA is an open-source architecture. Geely as well as users around the world could launch diversified models in shortened development cycle but unified quality standards, taking the mobility experience to the next level.
Diversified brands
Geely owns or controls a number of independent vehicle brands. The ones focused on electric passenger vehicles are as follows.
Volvo (and Polestar)
Volvo Cars was sold to Ford Motor in 1999 as a spinoff from the Swedish Volvo Group and has been taken over by Geely since 2010. It aims to be a fully electric brand by 2030 with two EV models at this point, XC40 SUV and C40 crossover. Volvo Cars also owns Polestar that produces high-end electric performance cars with two production models, Polestar 1 and Polestar 2.
Smart
Smart is a brand under Daimler that produces micro-cars and subcompacts. In 2019, Geely and Daimler established an equally owned joint venture to produce Smart-badged cars in China for the global markets. Designed by Mercedes-Benz and developed by Geely, the Smart Concept #1 was unveiled last September and would hit the market in the second half of this year. Concept #1 is an all-electric compact SUV built on Geely’s SEA platform.
Geometry
Geely introduced the Geometry brand in 2019 with the plan to produce all kinds of EV models including sedans, SUVs, and MPVs. It launched Geometry A (a compact sedan based on the Geely Emgrand GL) in 2019, Geometry C (a crossover based on the Emgrand GS) in 2020 and Geometry EX3 (a crossover based on the Vision X3) in 2021. However, they are transitional products with combustion engines replaced by electric motors, which lacks performance in various ways. It’s one of the reasons that Geometry sales are off expectations so far.
Zeekr
Zeekr was announced last April as a premium EV brand under Geely. The first model Zeekr 001 is a coupe-styled E-segment SUV built on the SEA platform that challenges the Tesla Model X and Nio EC6. It started delivery in October 2021.
Jidu Auto
We now elaborate on the Jidu partnership with Baidu.
Teaming up with leading autonomous driving players
Mobileye
Zeekr 001 is Geely’s first vehicle model based on the SEA platform. It is also the first model to adopt Mobileye’s SuperVision for L2 automated driving features. According to an announcement from last August, Mobileye would work with Zeekr on increasingly sophisticated capabilities for future models. At the recent 2022 CES, Zeekr and Mobileye announced a further cooperation to develop L4 electric vehicles for the China market and eventually to other countries.
Baidu
Baidu’s seniority in autonomous driving technologies in China is like Waymo in the US. Last year, Geely and Baidu formed a joint venture company called Jidu Auto to make EVs, in which Geely brings manufacturing expertise and the SEA platform while Baidu applies its intelligent technologies including a high-level automated driving solution.
Waymo
Last month, Waymo announced its latest OEM collaboration with Geely to create electric robotaxis for the Waymo One fleet in the US. The model will be adapted from the Zeekr model for ride-hailing with a Waymo Driver integrated. Waymo also foresees the transportation-as-a-service (TaaS)-optimized Zeekr vehicles to be fully autonomous without steering wheel and pedals in the years to come.
Geely powers its products with the automated driving solutions from market-leading players. Meanwhile, it does have an alternative. In January 2021, Geely announced the plan to build a global R&D center for intelligent driving technologies in Suzhou together with ECARX. ECARX is an independent, Geely invested company and has mainly focused on intelligent cockpit solutions since it started in 2016. The two will expand its software capabilities to cover intelligent driving systems as well as cloud service, data center, etc.
Geely is also up for a potential future of “fabless” and “foundry” for EVs. Reported last March, it was creating a joint venture with Foxconn to provide contract manufacturing of EVs and auto parts. Geely could certainly leverage the low-cost mass production capability of Foxconn (as with smartphones). Moreover, it is strengthening the know-how in making next-generation EVs with partners like Baidu and Waymo.
Last but not least, Geely’s re-invention is not limited to the roads. Check out eVTOL Players in China for Geely’s efforts in urban air mobility.
