Geely Automobile Holdings (0175.HK)

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China's Geely to Acquire 49.9% of Malaysian Carmaker Proton

Bloomberg News
May 23, 2017, 10:44 PM GMT+8 Updated on May 24, 2017, 2:54 PM GMT+8

Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom Bhd. agreed to sell a 49.9 percent stake in its unprofitable carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd. to Chinese billionaire Li Shufu’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.

Geely will also buy a 51 percent stake in British sports-car maker Lotus Cars from Proton and the two parties expect to sign a final agreement before the end of July, the Chinese company said on Wednesday. DRB-Hicom is still negotiating on the transaction price, after reaching agreement on a ballpark figure, Group Managing Director Syed Faisal Albar said at a press conference in Putrajaya.

The Chinese automaker, which acquired Sweden’s Volvo Cars in 2010, said the agreement lays the foundation for it to explore synergies with Proton and Lotus in areas such as research and development, manufacturing and marketing. Geely will seek to transform the two carmakers, and aims to build Proton into the most competitive brand in Malaysia and a leading nameplate in Southeast Asia.

More details in https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...y-j31o98jt

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Geely buys US start-up Terrafugia and promises a flying car by 2019
Founder and chairman of Chinese owner of Volvo and Lotus, says the investment reflects “our shared belief in the vision to make the flying car a reality”

Andrew Barclay
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 15 November, 2017, 8:08pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 15 November, 2017, 10:27pm

Zhejiang Geely, the Chinese car manufacture, has completed the acquisition of US start-up Terrafugia, a firm which claims it will create a flying car within the next two years.

Founded in 2006 by five MIT graduates, Boston-based Terrafugia is considered a world-leader in flying-car technology.

Since its creation, the company has delivered several working prototypes, including a model that flies like an aeroplane, but also drives like a car on the ground.

Geely said it aims to deliver its first flying car to the market by 2019, and then launch the world’s first vertical take-off and landing aircraft, or VTOL, by 2023.

More details in http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/a...g-car-2019

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Geely sees speed bumps ahead as its car sales and earnings sputter while China’s economic engine loses power
* Geely sold 44 per cent fewer cars in December, compared with the same month in 2017, as a trade war with the US and China’s economic slowdown gave customers cause for pause
* China’s car sales sputtered last year, falling 2.8 per cent, the first annual decline since 1992

Daniel Ren  
Published: 7:08pm, 21 Mar, 2019

Geely Automobile Holdings, whose founder Li Shufu is the largest single shareholder of Daimler, said sales of its portfolio of brands including Lynk and Volvo are likely to remain flat this year in China, as economic growth slows down in the world’s largest vehicle market.

The Zhejiang-based carmaker sold 44 per cent fewer vehicles in December, causing Geely to miss its 2018 sales target by 5 per cent.

Car sales in China sputtered last year, as three decades of double-digit percentage growth spurred the nation to surpass the United States in 2009 as the largest vehicle market on earth. Sales last year fell 2.8 per cent, as a slowing economy and a trade war with the US gave consumers cause for pause in committing to their biggest non-real estate purchases.

Sales slid further by 9.8 per cent in the first two months of the year – traditionally the season when customers flocked to showrooms to mark Lunar New Year celebrations with a new car – compared with the same period in 2017.

“The prevailing political and economic uncertainties should continue to affect the passenger vehicle market in China and could cause the current slowdown in motor vehicle demand to continue into 2019,” Geely said in its earnings report, adding that sales would remain flat this year.

Still, 2018 sales rose 20 per cent to 1.5 million units, driving up Geely’s revenue by 14.9 per cent to 106.6 billion yuan. Net profit jumped 18 per cent to a record 12.55 billion yuan (US$1.88 billion), in line with the 12.59 billion yuan expected in Bloomberg’s survey of 26 analysts.

Shares of the Zhejiang-based company rose as much as 5 per cent in Hong Kong after earnings were announced, closing the day at HK$14.42 each with a 2.3 per cent gain.

More details in https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/...gs-sputter