Geely's trillion-yuan ambition

Author | Zhou Zhiyu Editor | Zhang Xiaoling Forty years ago in Taizhou, Li Shufu, who was still tinkering with refrigerator parts, probably never imagined that forty years later, the empire he personally built would be standing at the threshold of one trillion in revenue. On January 22, Geely Holding Group CEO An Conghui announced the "One Geely, All-Around Leadership" 2030 strategy. By strengthening top-level coordination and global collaboration, Geely aims to achieve a unified global strategic layout. Specifically, by 2030, Geely plans to reach global sales of 6.5 million vehicles, revenue exceeding one trillion yuan, and secure a spot among the world's top five. Through this ambitious blueprint, we see Li Shufu undertaking a daring "retrenchment," gathering the previously scattered sub-brands like stars across the sky into a single, powerful fist that can battle the global deep sea. Over the next five years, Geely aims to become a key "decision-maker" in the international automotive market. According to recently released data, Geely Holding's global sales reached 4.116 million vehicles in 2025. This is a highly symbolic turning point. Four million units is generally viewed as the ticket to join the "global giant club." At this moment, Geely ranks seventh globally and is the fastest-growing among the world's top ten automotive groups. In addition, Geely's new energy penetration rate has climbed to 56%. This means that in the "Smart Geely 2025" cycle of the past five years, Geely has leaped from the traditional fuel camp to an era dominated by new energy. However, behind these achievements lies a deep sense of crisis. An Conghui bluntly pointed out that Geely's global governance system needs further improvement, the brand's international influence needs strengthening, and the pace of internationalization must accelerate. Key areas requiring continuous improvement include technological breakthroughs, product experience optimization, efficiency of collaborative R&D, and user service capabilities. This is the context for launching the "2030 Strategy": after reaching a scale of four million units, the previous "fragmented operation" model has hit an efficiency ceiling. Facing global price wars and technological iteration, Geely needs an upgrade from "product manufacturing competitiveness" to "ecosystem service competitiveness." The core of the 2030 strategy can be summarized as the "one-three-three" strategic navigation chart: one general guideline (Taizhou Declaration), three major transformations (organizational culture, competitiveness, management model), and three major sectors (vehicle, components, ecosystem). For a long time, Geely had many brands with overlaps in the market. From Lynk&Co, Zeekr to Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, and smart, Geely’s blueprint is filled with overlapping banners. This internal competition helped rapidly occupy market segments in the early stage, but in the era of smart electric vehicles, duplicate R&D and supply chain internal friction became the biggest enemies. In this strategic adjustment, Geely has clarified the “global chessboard” strategic layout. The core action is to develop a global top-tier new energy platform covering vehicles from class A to E, thereby reducing average single-vehicle development cycle and comprehensive cost by over 30%. An industry analyst pointed out this is Geely emulating Toyota’s TNGA or Volkswagen’s MEB, but on a higher dimension. Through unified platform architecture, Geely hopes to leverage scale effects to erase the redundant costs caused by multi-brand operations. The merger of Geely Auto and Zeekr Intelligent Technology last year was a vanguard move under this logic. On the technical path, Geely has outlined a comprehensive technology system called “Seven Verticals.” This covers intelligent driving, smart cockpit, electronic architecture, vehicle platform, battery, electric drive, and super hybrid. In every field, Geely is striving to reshape through AI. By building the “Thousand Miles Vast” technology platform, the target is full coverage of L2-level and rapid pilot industrialization of L3. Among these, the H9 solution boasts super high computing power of 1400 TOPS, which is at the absolute leading tier in the current industry. The trillion yuan revenue goal, if relying solely on car sales with increasingly thin margins, would be futile. Using AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) and Agent technologies as the core, Geely aims to build the AIOS operating system. Their ambition is for cars to no longer be mere transportation tools, but “super intelligent life forms.” The Thor AI hybrid engine is expected to reach thermal efficiency exceeding 50%, ushering fuel consumption per hundred kilometers into the "3L era." Meanwhile, the “ShenDun Gold Brick Battery” seeks to define a new benchmark for battery safety, gradually realizing industrialization of semi-solid and solid-state batteries. Additionally, Geely is building a “sky-earth integrated” future mobility ecosystem. This includes Geely Auto, Qianli Technology, Caocao Mobility, Wofei Changkong (low-altitude manned aircraft), and Shikong Daoyu (satellite networks) working together. While rivals are still competing in ground-level autonomous driving algorithms, Geely has completed its satellite networking, possessing global service capabilities. This “ground + low altitude + low orbit” ecosystem forms a unique competitive moat that sets Geely apart from other car companies. Geely’s real ambition is hidden in its “sky-earth integrated” ecosystem. In this 2030 blueprint, Caocao Mobility, Shikong Daoyu, and Wofei Changkong are elevated to unprecedented strategic heights. Caocao Mobility plans to deploy 100,000 fully customized Robotaxis by 2030. This is no longer about making a profit from a single car sale, but about shifting to full lifecycle mobility service revenue. With the completion of phase one of Geely Constellation networking, Shikong Daoyu’s centimeter-level high-precision positioning service will become infrastructure for advanced autonomous driving (L3/L4). This not only empowers all Geely brands, but also enables business prospects for exporting “Aerospace OS” to third-party automakers and logistics systems. On the scale front, among Geely’s 2030 target of 6.5 million units, overseas sales account for one-third (over 2.16 million units). Given today’s geopolitical environment and trade barriers, this is a highly challenging number. Geely’s approach is regional deep cultivation and brand synergy by differentiation. Leveraging Volvo and Polestar’s foothold in Europe and the US, Proton’s local foundation in Southeast Asia to marshal global resources; in Latin America, quickly penetrating key markets like Brazil through strategic cooperation with Renault. A notable technological increment is the “methanol-hydrogen electric ecosystem.” Geely has been cultivating the green methanol field for over 20 years and has developed a full industry chain advantage. For overseas markets with diverse energy structures (such as Latin America, the Middle East, etc.), this diversified energy path may be more penetrating than pure electric. Geely’s strategic shift is a far-reaching benchmark for the auto industry. For a long time, Chinese automakers were used to “fast fighting, flexible response” guerrilla tactics, surviving through rapid iteration and feature competition. But Geely’s 2030 strategy indicates that once players enter the top global league, the essence of competition reverts to organizational efficiency, global governance, and the certainty of core technology. As Min Gong, Head of Chinese Automotive Research at UBS, told Wallstreetcn, Made in China was an early symbol of low quality and cheapness, but now represents technological innovation. Over the long term, Chinese automakers’ brand image and positioning must continually rise. An Conghui quoted Li Shufu from the New Year’s speech: “At critical moments, one must dare to choose and break new ground.” For Li Shufu and Geely, the 2030 strategy is that decisive choice. It marks Chinese automakers' official challenge to “global dominance” from being “followers.” Behind this is not only a capital feast, but also a collective expedition of “Made in China” into the AI era and the aerospace era. A trillion in revenue is not the end, but an entry ticket to the future intelligent society. For forty-year-old Geely, the real contest has only just begun. Risk Disclosure and Disclaimer The market carries risks, so invest with caution. This article does not constitute individual investment advice and does not take into account the specific investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of any particular user. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their particular situation. If you invest based on this, you do so at your own risk.