The head of Chinese car conglomerate Geely has defended a decision by the Geely auto brand to increase car sales in Russia after global rivals pulled out of the market following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Daniel Li, chief executive of the Geely holding company, which also owns Volvo and Lotus, said the parent company allowed its various businesses to make their own strategic decisions, and said he was unwilling to tell them to withdraw from Russia.
“I totally don’t see why we have to force every brand to punish the Russian customer,” he said, talking at the FT’s Future of the Car Summit in London on Thursday.
Sales of Geely branded cars in Russia more than doubled for the first three months of the year from last year, up from 5,543 units to 12,673 units, according to car industry data group MarkLines. The pullout from Russia “is something decided by Geely Auto, not Geely Holding”, Li said.
“Geely Holding totally gives autonomy to Geely Auto as well as any other brands [under the portfolio] that are Volvo, Lotus or Polestar,” he added.
The Geely holding group owns stakes in several large western carmakers including Aston Martin, Volvo Cars and Mercedes, all of which pulled out of Russia following last year’s invasion.
Volvo Cars, which the holding group owned outright until the car brand’s stock market listing, was the first leading carmaker to suspend sales into Russia last February.
Li said many of Geely’s companies had pulled out, and had also donated to charities working in Ukraine.
Sales of Chinese-branded models in total accounted for 38 per cent of Russia’s new car market in January, according to data agency Autostat, up from 10 per cent in January 2022, which was before the invasion.
“Geely auto car sales volumes in Russia is relatively a very small part of our total of 1.5m cars,” Li said. “Even then Geely Auto followed all the compliance with every local country and also globally,” he added.
Li’s comments come as Geely is trying to push further into the European market with its new electric Zeekr brand. The company already has a significant presence in Europe with Volvo and Lotus, as well as the London taxi-maker LEVC.
But Zeekr is the first time the company has brought a Chinese brand into the market, as one of several electric vehicle brands from China that are trying to break into the market.
