Chinese Geely is planning a factory in the European Union

16.09.2024. / 16:18

BEIJING – Geely is looking for a location to build a large production facility in Europe. Like several other Chinese automakers, Geely wants to increase its presence in new markets, and Europe is among the most important.

While speaking at a recent press conference in Frankfurt, Geely Auto Group Vice President Li Chuanhai was asked if the brand would build a factory in the region.

“It’s not 100 percent certain yet”he replied.

However, Geely is known to have had extensive discussions with the Polish government earlier this year. The Deputy Minister for Development Funds and Regional Policy, Jan Szyszko, said that either the new electric vehicle factory might be built in Poland or in another EU country. The current state of negotiations between the Chinese giant and the Polish government is unclear, but sources say the Polish government does not see Geely as an ideal partner.

According to Geely’s vice president, the company has “a lot of possibilities” as it seeks to expand in Europe, so all options are still open, and among them in theory is Croatia, according to Jutarnji.hr.

Also, the European CEO of Geely’s Lynk & Co brand, Nicolas Appelgren, told Reuters the brand was actively exploring locations across the continent, without giving further details. Geely recently opened a new base in Frankfurt, where it will test and develop 13 “new energy” vehicles to check how well they comply with European certification standards.

In April, Chinese carmaker Chery announced that it will produce battery-powered electric vehicles at a factory in Barcelona. The cars will be produced in a factory previously operated by Nissan through a joint venture with Ebro-EV Motors. Chery plans to produce 50,000 vehicles per year by 2027 and 150,000 vehicles per year by 2029.