How Geely Automobile Secures the Mid-Season Championship in the 2026 Auto Market "Elimination Round"

Describing the 2026 Chinese auto market as "brutal" is hardly an exaggeration.

The density of new car launches is staggering — over 600 new models launched nationwide in the first half, averaging 3 new cars entering the market daily. However, in sharp contrast to the product explosion, the overall market continues to shrink. According to CPCA statistics, domestic passenger car retail in the first half reached 10.318 million units, a year-on-year decline of 6.2%; other data shows cumulative retail of approximately 8.75 million units, with a drop as high as 20%. Li Bin of NIO stated explicitly at the Chongqing Forum that the industry needs to prepare for a year-on-year decline in annual retail volume of 15% to 20%. Market downturn, price war intensification, elimination round acceleration — this is the true background of the first half of 2026.

However, precisely in such a headwind situation, automakers with true system capabilities stand out. Compared to the high-profile battles of new forces on the public opinion field, the strategies of traditional automakers are steadier and results more solid. Geely Automobile is the most typical representative.

Data from CPCA shows that in the first half of 2026, Geely Automobile's terminal retail sales in the domestic narrow passenger car market reached 1.021 million units, topping the Chinese passenger car domestic sales champion at once, and also being the only domestic brand to break the 1 million unit sales mark. Adding overseas markets, cumulative total vehicle sales for Geely from January to June reached 1.423 million units, setting a new historical high for the same period.

The gold content of this achievement lies in that it was not supported by a single hit product, but the result of four brand matrices exerting balanced effort and layered positioning.

First, look at the main position of new energy Geely Galaxy. Cumulative sales reached nearly 520,000 units in the first half, with single-month sales in June breaking through 108,000 units. Among them, Geely Star Wish sales in June exceeded 50,000 units, retaining the title of China all-brand all-category model sales champion. What does this mean? A 100,000-level home new energy vehicle with monthly sales of 50,000+, placed in the entire passenger car market, is a ceiling-level existence. More worthy of attention is Star Wish's global strategy - domestic sales volume amortizes costs, overseas relies on product power for high premium, priced at 160,000 to 180,000 Yuan in the Brazilian market, exports in June accounted for 40% of its own total sales. Star Wish has not only become a legend in China, but also won sales champions in sub-categories in multiple countries such as Mexico and Indonesia. This "domestic volume + overseas premium" dual-wheel drive is the key to Geely's new energy segment being able to continue profitable.

Look at the high-end brand Zeekr next. Deliveries exceeded 178,000 units in the first half, a year-on-year increase of 97%. Its luxury 9 Series flagship model delivered nearly 150,000 units cumulatively - for every 3 luxury Chinese cars sold above 500,000 Yuan, 1 is a Zeekr 9X. The average transaction price of the entire Zeekr series has approached 350,000 Yuan, tearing a hole in the luxury car market where BBA has long dominated. This is not share won by low prices, but solid product power completing brand positioning in the high-end market.

Lynk & Co sales exceeded 144,000 units in the first half, continuing to expand. In the 150,000 to 300,000 Yuan sporty, globalized sub-sectors, continuously widening layout. And the China Star Series sales exceeded 580,000 units in the first half, consecutively retaining the title of Chinese brand fuel passenger car sales champion for 9 years. In today when almost all automakers are "abandoning fuel for electricity", Geely not only did not let the fuel car base collapse, but instead made the China Star Series a banner for domestic brand fuel cars.

Running on two legs, fuel and new energy, this is extremely rare among current Chinese automakers. The problem facing the vast majority of brands is: new energy grew, but fuel cars collapsed. Geely did not sacrifice cash flow and the basic base for new energy transformation - Galaxy responsible for volume expansion, Zeekr responsible for brand upward, Lynk & Co responsible for high-end electrification, China Star responsible for stabilizing the fuel base. Four brands perform their duties, not fighting each other, jointly constituting the underlying support for Geely's 1.021 million unit sales.

From a more macro dimension, Geely's growth logic is clearer. In the first half, cumulative new energy sales reached 799,500 units, penetration rate reached 56%, June single-month penetration rate even surged to 67%. Overseas market became the biggest variable - June exports 102,900 units, breaking through the single-month 100,000 unit threshold for the first time, skyrocketing 157% year-on-year; first half cumulative exports 474,200 units, 158% year-on-year increase, already exceeding the total export volume of 2025. In the context of domestic market shrinkage, overseas effectively offset the downward pressure of the local market.

More worthy of mention is that Geely is not a champion rushed out by "trading price for volume". The terminal retail data of 1.021 million units reflects real market demand, rather than warehouse-pressing wholesale numbers. In terms of product structure, the mainstream price range of 100,000 to 200,000 Yuan constitutes the main body of sales; in terms of brand structure, the four blocks of Galaxy, Zeekr, Lynk & Co, and China Star all achieved positive growth or steady progress. This growth quality of "volume and price rising together" is far more convincing than simple sales numbers.

Looking forward to the second half, Galaxy TT and Galaxy Warship 700 are about to launch, and i-HEV hybrid model production capacity will also increase. Especially Galaxy Warship 700 - developed based on Geely's native new energy off-road architecture, equipped with three-motor four-wheel drive system and AI intelligent four-wheel drive technology - this tough plug-in hybrid SUV is expected to add another spark to the emerging off-road new energy track. And i-HEV intelligent dual-engine as the world's first application of "AI Cloud Power" oil-electric hybrid system, can reduce HEV model fuel consumption to 3L per 100km, which will further consolidate Geely's technical moat in the hybrid field.

In the first half of 2026, Geely proved one thing with the 1.021 million unit terminal retail data: In the cycle of major industry reshuffling, those who can truly cross the cycle are never reliant on one or two viral products, but on a mature, balanced, sustainable product matrix and brand system.

Geely Automobile Group CEO Fan Jiayue once systematically expounded Geely's strategic determination to adhere to "long-termism" in the AI era; Li Shufu explicitly proposed to "forge a management team and an enterprise culture capable of fighting a war of attrition strategically". From "quantity expansion" to "quality leap", from multi-brand tactics to "One Geely" system integration - this automaker that has walked for forty years is proving in the most pragmatic way: Enterprises adhering to long-termism often walk further and more solidly.