GEELY

Geely began in 1986 as a maker of refrigerator parts, moved to motorcycles in 1994 and entered the car business in 1997. The holding company, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, was formed in 2003 and is privately owned by its founder, Li Shufu.

The group sells cars under the Geely, Lynk & Co and Zeekr brands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures that include Volvo Cars, Polestar, Proton, Smart and Lotus. The name is a phonetic version of the Chinese 吉利 (Jílì), which means “auspicious”.