Chinese automaker Geely had an extremely successful year in 2012 and is now China’s second largest car exporter. Geely’s exports totalled 100300 vehicles in 2012 marking an increase of 164% compared to 2011.

Dr. Zhang Lin, Vice President of the Geely Group and General Manager of Geely International, was quoted saying, “Geely’s strong export sales are due to Geely’s new range of highly competitive vehicles and increased investment in key areas such as quality and branding. Geely has now entered a strategic period for export sales, (and) later in 2013 we will add more models to our export line-up such as the GX7 SUV which will help us continue with our sales success.”

??Key Geely products delivered to key markets

One of Geely’s success stories for 2012 was the EC7 which will be launched in South Africa in May 2013. The Geely EC7 includes the EC7-RV hatchback and the EC7 compact sedan. The EC8 mid-size sedan was exported to several countries in Europe, Africa and South America and proved hugely popular in these markets. Both vehicles accounted for 40% of total exports by Geely. The EC7 series’ exports increased by as much as 500% year-on-year when compared to 2011 export figures.

Geely has several Complete Knock Down (CDK) facilities in key markets around the world which deliver faster product delivery and lower consumer costs. However, there are no current plans to manufacture or assemble vehicles in South Africa. CKD facilities have been established with local partners in Russia, Ukraine and Indonesia while a new CDK plant was opened in Egypt in 2012 and is where the EC7 is produced. In addition, plans for new production facilities in Ethiopia and Brazil are well underway.

Model expansion for Geely??

Geely will continually introduce new models into export markets and this will include the GX7 SUV followed by other new models. Geely plans to aggressively expand in each market with increased investment, new models and better training policies for sales staff to ensure customer satisfaction in all markets.

Geely was re-launched in South Africa in 2011 as one of the brands under the Dacar Motor Group. Henri Meistre, Managing Director of Geely South Africa said, “These plans include South Africa, where we have already expanded our dealer network to 40 dealers across the country, including Namibia and Botswana opening soon. The new quality direction of Geely is being noticed, and we are very optimistic for the local launch of the EC7 in May this year.”