Geely Interim Report Hides the "Exclusive Formula" for Going Global

2026First half of the year, China's vehicle manufacturing profit margin fell to 1.5%, reaching a new low in nearly a decade.

In this context, Geely's performance is very prominent.

Total sales volume in the first half reached 1.423 million units, a year-on-year increase of only 1%. However, revenue was 173.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15%; core net profit attributable to shareholders was 9.68 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46%. Gross margin increased from 16.2% in the same period last year to 17.9%.

Management summarized it in one sentence: "Revenue growth is faster than sales volume growth, and profit growth is faster than revenue growth."

Growth drivers come from two aspects.

Premiumization — Zeekr's sales volume in the first half reached 178,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 97%, accounting for 12.5% of total sales and contributing 31.7% of revenue. Zeekr's gross margin is approximately 20%, occupying about one-third of the domestic sub-market above 500,000 yuan.

Internationalization — It is the structural change in the financial report worth analyzing most closely. To understand Geely's profit explosion, one must first see the structural explosion of its overseas business.

No New Factories, Overseas Capacity Doubled Plus

In the first half, Geely's overseas export sales reached 474,200 units, a year-on-year increase of 158%, exceeding the full-year export volume of 2025. Among them, new energy vehicle exports reached 277,200 units, a year-on-year increase of 585%.

The proportion of overseas sales to total sales jumped from about 13% in the same period last year to about 33%. In June and July, overseas monthly sales broke through 100,000 units. The growth rate ranks first among mainstream automakers.

Regional markets are showing comprehensive blossoming. Latin America and Africa increased by 298% year-on-year, Europe increased by over 280%, ASEAN over 120%, Eastern Europe and Central/West Asia approached 100%.

Geely announced that it raised the full-year export target from 640,000 units to 920,000 units, and proposed challenging 1 million units.

With going global becoming a clear card and cure-all for Chinese automakers, more worth paying attention to than numbers is Geely's unique strategy for going global.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Chairman Li Shufu clearly stated: "In the new process of global transformation, we will not build new capacity. We insist on win-win cooperation with global peers and share capacity."

Behind this sentence, there are three specific details.

"1": One overseas Geely system. Back-end and middle-back-end are fully unified, not acting independently. The three brands Zeekr, Lynk & Co, and Geely maintain clear positioning — Zeekr focuses on tech luxury, Lynk & Co focuses on sports trends, and Geely plans the mainstream household market.

"23456": Five regional markets, totaling 2 million units. Europe 600,000, ASEAN 500,000, Latin America & Africa 400,000, Eastern Europe 300,000, Central Asia & Middle East 200,000.

The timeline is the next 2 to 3 years. Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. Board Chairman An Conghui reiterated the long-term strategic goal: overseas markets will contribute two-thirds of sales.

The implementation of the strategy relies on three factories.

Volvo Europe Factory — Put into production in 2028, producing Geely's high-end cars.

An Conghui revealed at the earnings call that the Volvo Europe Factory will undertake the production of high-end luxury cars within the Geely Automobile Group, expected to start production in 2028. It specifically involves the Trollhättan factory in Gothenburg, Sweden, the Ghent factory in Belgium, and the newly built EV factory in Košice, Slovakia.

Previously, Volvo signed an agreement with Lynk & Co to be responsible for the exclusive import and operation of the Lynk & Co brand in the European market. Now, the production side is also included in the Volvo Europe system, forming a complete localized layout from manufacturing and import to sales and after-sales service.

Ford Spain Factory — 500,000 units capacity, Roll-off line in 2028.

On July 23, 2026, Geely and Ford signed an agreement to acquire 34% equity of Ford's Valencia plant in Spain for 221 million euros. This factory, put into production in 1976, has an annual capacity of about 500,000 units and is one of the largest manufacturing bases in Europe.

After the joint venture company is established, the Valencia factory will undertake the production tasks for 5 car models of Geely and Ford simultaneously. Geely will put into production two new energy vehicle models including EX2 (Domestic Xingyuan), with the first car rolling off the line in 2028.

It was clarified at this earnings call that the Spain factory will produce Geely Galaxy and Lynk & Co products.

Proton Malaysia Factory — From 200,000 to 500,000 units

The Proton Malaysia factory acquired by Geely is undergoing technical transformation. Capacity is increased from 200,000 units to 500,000 units, positioned as a Southeast Asia manufacturing base. In addition, the Brazil factory cooperated by Geely and Renault has an annual capacity of about 300,000 units, and the Korean factory is also continuing to increase capacity.

As of the first half, Geely's operational overseas manufacturing factories have reached 12, overseas capacity exceeds 650,000 units, and it is planned to be increased to over 840,000 units by the end of the year.

Three factories, three cooperation forms: Volvo is capacity synergy within the system, Ford is external joint venture sharing, Proton is acquisition renovation upgrade. In terms of overseas capacity layout, Geely appears to have almost no repetitive moves, possessing the flexibility of "One Place, One Policy", which exactly reflects the unified investment concept of integrating existing resources.

How the Brand Matrix Supports Overseas Expansion

"123456" Strategy, the core meaning of "1" is an overseas system, three brands with different divisions of labor. So to what extent have Geely's three brands achieved in the overseas market?

Zeekr is the highest-end brand for going global, with an average transaction price of 350,000 yuan, with a clear goal: to occupy one-third of the market in China priced above 500,000 yuan, and to also take one-third of the global high-end market.

In the first half of this year, Zeekr has entered markets such as Malaysia and the Middle East. Zeekr 7X and 007 are the current export mainstays. In the second half of the year, Zeekr 9X, 8X, and 009 will expand to more markets: Zeekr 9X lands in Central Asia in Q3 and enters Europe in Q4; Zeekr 8X enters Latin America and Europe in Q4; Zeekr 009 and 009 Glory launch European versions in the second half of the year.

According to reports, some overseas markets have already seen situations where dealers add markups to car purchases, indicating sufficient demand.

Lynk & Co is positioned as "Sports Trends + Volvo Entry-Level Supplement", has signed 10 dealers in Belgium, and the pace of entering Europe is accelerating. Europe focuses on plug-in hybrids as the main product direction, forming differentiation with Zeekr's pure electric positioning.

Galaxy and China Star are responsible for the mainstream mass market. Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. CEO Gan Jiayue announced at the earnings call that Geely will no longer develop traditional fuel vehicles in the future; all fuel vehicle models will turn to i-HEV Smart Hybrid, and next year all i-HEV models will be launched to the overseas market.

The i-HEV engine thermal efficiency is 48.41%, breaking the global mass production record. This is Geely's trump card to compete head-on with Japanese hybrids overseas. In the first half of the year, China Star sales volume dropped 5.7% year-on-year, but market share increased from 8.7% last year to 10.4%, winning against the industry against the background of a 31.9% decline in the fuel vehicle market.

Conclusion

Geely is also bearing the pressure of shrinking overall volume in the domestic market.

At the earnings call, An Conghui openly shared: The brand power of Geely's system in the mainstream price range is still insufficient, lacking strong mid-range products.

In the downturn cycle of the industry, the core reason why Geely was able to submit a scorecard with 46% profit growth is that it completed two leaps in the strategic dimension: using Zeekr's premiumization to break through the profit ceiling, and using deep overseas localization cooperation to broaden survival space.

The domestic elimination race is far from over; globalization is a required course for survival. But in this interim report, Geely proved one thing to the industry: car companies that plant roots deeply into the global system early can better undertake the challenges of the times.

In addition, how to coordinate brand positioning and manufacturing standards when Volvo factories OEM Geely brand models? Can the joint venture model of Ford Spain factory be replicated to other markets? How to cope with the high uncertainty of geopolitical politics? It still needs time to test.