Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Archives

Farizon Auto’s futuristic semi-truck will be rolling on China’s roads in 2024

Before the passenger car segment started to mushroom from the mid-1980s as China liberalised economically, its auto industry was largely focussed on commercial vehicles. As such vehicles are used for business purposes, appearances have not been particularly important to customers while ruggedness has been. So China’s trucks have generally remained in the background but not necessarily stagnant with regards to evolution and development.

And just as with their passenger cars, the domestic manufacturers have also been looking ahead to a new generation of commercial vehicles. Recently, Geely Holding Group’s commercial vehicle brand, Farizon Auto, unveiled its next-generation smart new energy semi-truck with production and first deliveries planned for early 2024.

Known as the Homtruck, the exterior appearance will be futuristic – certainly nothing like what is seen on the roads today – and it will be one of the most advanced and cleanest commercial vehicles on the road. The focus of the vehicle’s development has been on efficiency, driver and pedestrian safety, with major breakthroughs in sustainable powertrains promised.

The Homtruck’s architecture can accommodate different powertrain options including a range-extender, methanol hybrid and pure electric with battery-swapping option based on government standards recently released by China’s Ministry of Industry and Technology. This will allow the Homtruck to be charged at service stations alongside highways in minutes rather than a substantial amount of time.

The name of the vehicle is taken from ‘home’ and it reflects the development team’s aim of providing operators of the semi-truck a feeling of home. This is important as semi-truck drivers – not only in China but around the world – spend large amounts of time in their vehicles going from place to place. In fact, many may spend more time in their vehicle than at their own home.

This has led to the creation of a mobile space within the Homtruck which integrates ‘work, life, and entertainment’, all to help the driver carry out his role efficiently and comfortably. To do this, Farizon Auto’s engineers closely studied the needs of independent commercial vehicle drivers and fleet operators.

The Homtruck is capable of connecting to the logistics network’s big data platforms to help drivers obtain the most optimal orders in real-time, analyse and track deliveries, and calculate operating costs along the routes. An on-board ‘brain’ can utilize vehicle sensors to analyse traffic data in real-time and receive route recommendations. In addition, the energy management system can also manage the power or fuel supply to achieve the most optimal economic performance, with recommendations for optimal refuelling or recharging routes.

Driver comfort is vital to driver safety; well-rested drivers are more attentive and more focused. Based on analysis of the working conditions of drivers, Farizon Auto has designed a cockpit that applies the concept of home and optimizes space to create a driving and a living area. The design includes a bathroom complete with a shower and toilet, single bed, refrigerator, tea-maker, kitchen, and even a small washing machine. No more sleeping in the cold under the truck!

The ergonomic seat design and high-definition camera help ensure drivers are well-rested and well-focused, while an intelligent AI assistant coupled with full 360-degree cameras help to keep the driver aware of any issues around the vehicle whilst in motion or stationary. As a further association with home, the Homtruck’s cabin has soft-touch fabrics, sustainable plastics, and bamboo grain materials to create a healthy eco-friendly environment inspired by the peaceful bamboo forests of China.

Within a growing number of selected routes, the Homtruck will be able to utilize Level 4 hands-off autonomous operation and will also introduce convoying features for longer journeys. This can allow trucks to communicate with each other to maintain safe speed and distance that will lower operator stress levels. Hardware sensors such as lidar, millimetre-wave radar and ultrasonic radar will be standard equipment along with 5G and V2X communication. The Homtruck will also be fully capable of being upgraded overtime using Over-the-Air (OTA) software upgrades.

Farizon Auto was announced in October 2016 with its first products being a pure electric light commercial vehicle and a city bus. Farizon Auto was established as a commercial vehicle brand within the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to strategically enter the commercial vehicle segment with New Energy vehicles. Its core drivetrain technologies are internally developed with a focus on pure electric solutions and range extension for zero emissions.

Lotus Vision80 plan to transform company on journey of global expansion

Group Lotus, once owned by Proton and now owned by its shareholder, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, has big plans for the rest of the decade, with a product plan for the next 5 years that will see at least 5 new models. The ongoing strategic plan, known as Vision80, outlines the transformation of the company ahead of its 80th birthday in 2028.

Also of significance to the journey of global expansion is the establishment of Lotus Technology. This is a new division of Group Lotus, a global ‘intelligent technology’ subsidiary which augments the brand’s DNA and technology accumulated over the 73 years that Lotus has been in business. Its role is to accelerate innovation in the fields of batteries and energy management, electric motors, electronic control systems, intelligent driving, intelligent manufacturing and more.

Expanding the global footprint
Working hand in hand, China-based Lotus Technology and the UK-based Lotus team are at the core of Group Lotus’ future development strategy. Lotus in the UK will be responsible for the development and production of sportscars, as well as coordinating global sales for the Lotus brand. Lotus Technology in China will be responsible for integrating a new generation of lifestyle products, bringing together China’s EV and manufacturing specialisms, UK’s design and advanced performance centres and Germany-based R&D resources (at the Lotus Technology Innovation Centre in Raunheim), as well as the global development and production of premium intelligent drive technologies.

“Transforming Lotus from a UK sportscar company to a truly global performance car company has always been at the core of Vision80. The launch of Lotus Technology is a major milestone on the road to making that a reality, while adhering to the unwavering Lotus principles of pure performance, efficiency, motorsport success and, above all, being ‘For the Drivers’,” said Matt Windle, Managing Director of Lotus Cars.

New factory for Lotus EVs in China
The new Lotus Technology headquarters will be completed in 2024, while an all-new Lotus factory, to manufacture Lotus electric vehicles for global markets, will open later this year. The new plant, located in Wuhan has an investment of over £900 million (about RM5.17 billion). It will complement existing UK sportscar manufacturing and performance facilities in England. It is being built with the world’s most advanced manufacturing technologies to become a global centre of excellence for Lotus’ premium lifestyle models.

Covering an area of over 1 million square metres, the new factory in China plant will have has a capacity of up to production of 150,000 vehicles a year. with an investment of over £900 million (about RM5.17 billion)

The new plant is the first in the world with an integrated intelligent test track. It features an advanced system whereby vehicles can be transported into workshops using autonomous driving technology without any human intervention. It is designed to accommodate vehicles driving at speeds up to 230 km/h) through 16 corners.

In the field of intelligent drive, Lotus has also unveiled the concept of ‘track-level intelligent drive’ as a 10-year technological development target. The new technology’s aim is to assist drivers to perform as well as an F1 driver on track, while increasing driver safety and improving performance on the road through advanced software and hardware. The result is a more rewarding and reassuring experience in any environment.

*Emira will be the last petrol-powered sportscar from Lotus.*

5 new models in 5 years
As for the new models, which are in addition to the Evija all-electric hypercar and the Emira (the last petrol-powered sportscar from Lotus), the first one will be an E-segment SUV codenamed ‘Type 132’ which will be launched next year. It will be followed in 2023 by an E-segment 4-door coupe (Type 133), and in 2025 by the Type 134, a new D-segment SUV. This trio will be joined in 2026 by the Type 135, an all-new electric sportscar.

The development of the brand’s new premium lifestyle vehicles will take place on the Lotus Premium architecture, one of the four new vehicle platforms announced at the Driving Tomorrow global strategy conference in April. The Premium architecture supports a wheelbase range from 2889 mm -3100 mm and could be further expanded in the future. It supports the development of all types of passenger vehicles from C+ to E segments. Using 92 – 120 kWh batteries, it is compatible with the industry’s most advanced 800V high-speed EV charging system. Products developed on this platform will be capable of 0-100 km/h acceleration in under 3 seconds.

Since being founded by Colin Chapman in 1948, Lotus has been among the industry leaders in innovation with its commitment to pure driving, outstanding ride and handling, lightweight technologies and aerodynamic engineering. Today, with the backing and global resources of Geely Holding Group, the company benefits from new capabilities in R&D, manufacturing and supply chain management.

New dawn for Lotus as Vision80 plan progresses

Geely Holding and Volvo Cars to form joint-venture company producing powertrains

Geely Holding (or more correctly, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in full) has been building up its portfolio of brands over the past two decades. While allowing the brands – which include Lotus, Volvo, Polestar and Proton – to operate autonomously, there has also been a strong effort to fully utilise the available synergies that such a large group of companies enables. Sharing resources can give a competitive edge in the business and Geely Holding has therefore not just developed the car companies but also looked at how it can create its own ecosystem for other elements.

One important area is powertrains and while each of the companies has had its own R&D in this area, a ‘centralised’ powertrain company would be beneficial to the group. To establish this, Geely Holding has announced a joint-venture with Volvo Cars to create Aurobay, a new company that will be in the powertrain business. The new company will be a global supplier of complete powertrain solutions including next-generation combustion engines, transmissions and hybrid solutions.

Aurobray will get Volvo’s engine facilities
Aurobay will initially be jointly owned by Volvo Cars and Geely Holding and as part of the creation of Aurobay, Volvo Cars will transfer all assets in its wholly-owned subsidiary Powertrain Engineering Sweden, including its engine plant in Sweden as well as the related R&D team, along with its engine plant in China and other relevant assets to the joint-venture in coming months.

The creation of the stand-alone joint venture and the transfer of assets allows Volvo Cars to focus fully on the development of its new range of all-electric models in coming years. The company aims to have 50% of its global sales volume made up of fully electric vehicles by 2025, of which 50% will be hybrids using powertrains supplied by Aurobay. By 2030, it will no longer sell vehicles with combustion ends and offer only fully electric models.

For Geely Holding, the new entity will benefit from the addition of a strong R&D team and technologically advanced and efficient combustion engines and hybrid powertrains for its portfolio of brands, creating a strong base for substantial operational, industrial and financial synergies.

Supply to other companies outside Geely Group
The new business also has plans to supply customers outside of the Geely Holding Group, with the objective of becoming a leading player in the supply of high-quality, low emission, cost-efficient powertrains solutions. The supply of engines to other companies isn’t something unusual and larger carmakers have been doing so for a long time. For example, Proton used to source engines for the Waja and Savvy from Renault.

*Besides making and supplying powertrains to Geely Holding Group companies, Aurobray will also supply them to other companies.*

Besides the new powertrain business, Geely Holding and Volvo Cars have other plans for collaboration. These include sharing of electric vehicle architecture, joint procurement, autonomous drive technologies and aftersales.

“As shareholders and portfolio-managers of both wholly-owned and listed companies, Geely Holding sees significant benefits from deeper partnerships and alliances whilst maintaining independence,” said Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Holding. “We are encouraged by the potential synergies and growth opportunities created by this collaboration, which will create two even stronger globally competitive companies in the rapidly changing world of automotive technology and new mobility services.”

Volvo Car Group aims to have assured battery supply with gigafactory joint venture

Geely sends medical equipment and supplies to Malaysia and other countries

Now that the COVID-19 pandemic situation in China has improved, the country is able to think of helping other countries even though it still has many cases to attend to domestically. Government and private organisations have been sending medical personnel and much-needed medical supplies to a number of countries and the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely Holding), together with the Li Shufu Charity Foundation are among them.

Geely Holding, which Proton is a part of, has begun shipping medical supplies to areas in Southeast Asia and Europe that are experiencing coronavirus outbreaks. The first batch of donated medical supplies was sent to Sweden and Germany for local distribution to hospitals.

For Malaysia, the Group will donate testing kits and masks to hospitals and treatment facilities in need.

Earlier in January, Geely Holding and the Li Shufu Charity Foundation established a special fund totalling 200 million RMB (about RM124 million) to support the prevention and control of the coronavirus epidemic. The foundation established by Geely Holding’s founder, Li Shufu, will purchase and distribute urgently needed medical supplies including Personal Protective Equipment, test kits, masks, disinfectants, and ventilators according to the needs of the severely affected areas.

As the pandemic grows around the world, Geely Holding and its global family stands united and will make full use of the Group’s synergetic strength in the fight against the virus. Geely Holding and its subsidiaries around the world are strictly following national guidelines where they operate to protect employees and prevent the spread of the virus.

On top of assistance from Geely Holding and the Li Shufu Charity Foundation, Geely subsidiary companies around the world are providing their own assistance to local communities in distress. Volvo Cars in Sweden and Geely Sweden have donated over 12,000 medical masks to local hospitals. Benelli Motorbikes has begun shipping masks from China to affected areas in Italy. Geely Auto Technical (Deutschland) near Frankfurt, Germany has been working with local authorities to distribute medical masks and gloves. London Electric Vehicle Company has started an initiative providing drivers nationwide with a 3-month finance payment holiday.

“As the situation continues to normalize in China, Geely Holding has not forgotten the help it received from friends and family around the world. The fight against the coronavirus is not one that can be won alone. Together we are strong and together we will be victorious,” the company said in a statement.

Geely Auto develops cabin virus-filtering system within 20 days, to go into all its cars from next month

Mercedes-Benz and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group establish new joint-venture to handle smart brand globally

Mercedes-Benz AG and China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group have formally established a global joint venture company to handle the German carmaker’s smart brand. Pending regulatory approvals, the company will have its global headquarters in Hangzhou Bay, Ningbo with operational sales functions in both China and Germany.

The total registered capital of the joint venture will be 5.4 billion RMB (about RM3.18 billion) to transform smart into a leading player in premium-and intelligent electrified vehicles. Both parties will equally contribute equally, with the share of Mercedes-Benz mainly covered by the contribution of the smart brand.

Mercedes-Benz and Geely Holding gründen ein globales Joint Venture zur Weiterentwicklung von smart Daimler and Geely Holding form global joint venture to develop smart — *A signing ceremony in March 2019 marked the beginning of establishing the joint venture to produce and market smart cars.*

New EV model to be produced in China
A new generation of smart electric models will be assembled at a new purpose-built factory in China with global sales due to begin in 2022. The new generation will be designed by the worldwide Mercedes-Benz Design network and developed by the Geely global engineering network. As part of the vehicle-development program, the smart product portfolio will be extended into the fast-growing B-segment that are in line with smart’s brand positioning with a focus on pure premium electric and connected vehicles.

“The joint venture will bring the next generation of zero-emission smart electric cars to the Chinese and global markets. We look forward to continue our collaboration to bring desirable products and services to customers around the world,” said Ola Kallenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG.

Boardroom composition
The board of directors of the new joint venture will be made up of 6 executives with equal representation from both parties. On the German side, representatives will be from Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG. Geely board representatives will include Geely Holding Chairman Li Shufu, Geely Holding President, Geely Auto Group President & CEO An Conghui, Geely Holding Executive Vice President & CFO Daniel Donghui Li.

Tong Xiangbei has been appointed the new global CEO of the smart joint venture and will oversee all operations relating to the brand including sales, marketing, R&D, production and after sales. Tong has more than 2 decades of experience in the automotive industry. Before joining the smart joint venture, he has worked for global automotive companies in the USA and in China.

“The smart brand has a unique value and global influence; it has grown to be a leader in urban mobility. Geely Holding will fully support the smart brand with its full advantages in R&D, manufacturing, supply chain and other fields into the joint venture and support its development in China and globally. We will work together with Mercedes-Benz to transform the smart brand into a leading player in urban premium, electric and connected vehicles to successfully develop the brand’s global potential,” said Li Shufu.

History of smart
The story of smart cars goes back to the early 1980s when Nicolas Hayek, the CEO of the company making Swatch watches, had an idea to apply the same concept of personalisation to making and retailing cars as what was done for the watches. Initially, Volkswagen was involved in the project but Hayek later tied up with Mercedes-Benz. By 1996, the German carmaker took control of the company making smart cars and embarked on a more aggressive growth plan.

2005 smart fortwo — *First generation of the smart fortwo was sold in Malaysia for a while.*

The little smart cars found a niche as city cars but due to having to meet the demanding and high standards of Mercedes-Benz in the safety, they were not cheap. The brand also did not contribute profits and in fact, lost a huge amount of money.

However, Mercedes-Benz didn’t give up and modernised the factory in France to be more productive and cost-efficient. The third generation started rolling out in 2015 and is sold in over 40 markets worldwide. To date, 2.2 million cars have been sold since 1998.

Geely Auto retains No.1 Chinese brand position for third consecutive year

Lotus Evija Revealed! Facts & Figures + Video of the world’s most powerful series production road car

♦ The Evija (pronounced ‘E-vi-ya’) means ‘the first in existence’ or ‘the living one’. Each car will have a starting price of around £1.7 million (equivalent to about RM8.7 million in the UK). To book one, you need to pay a deposit of £250,000 (RM1.27 million).

♦ The first hypercar from Lotus and the company’s first model with an electrified powertrain. It is also the first completely new car to be launched since the 71-year old British company was acquired by the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in June 2017.

♦ Only 130 cars will be built, beginning in 2020. The number pays tribute to the car’s project code, ‘Type 130’. Lotus road and race cars throughout the brand’s seven decades of success have been assigned a Type number, and the Evija is no exception.

♦ This is the first all-electric British hypercar and with a target power output of 2,000 ps (and maximum torque of 1,700 Nm), it lays claim to being the world’s most powerful series production road car. It has more power at each wheel than the total power of any other Lotus road car ever produced.

♦ Ultra-lightweight carbonfibre monocoque construction also makes it the world’s lightest production EV hypercar, at 1,680 kgs. This contributes to the claimed 0 to 100 km/h time of under 3 seconds and a top speed over 320 km/h.

♦ At the heart of the Evija is a 2,000 kW battery pack powering 4 electric motors. That means it’s 8 times more powerful than a Formula E race car and can generate enough electricity to boil water in more than 1,600 kettles. A fully charged battery pack is expected to last 400 kms but the range depends on driving style and conditions.

♦ Using existing charging technology – such as a 350 kW unit, which is currently the most powerful available – the Evija’s charge time will be 12 minutes to 80% and 18 mins to 100%.

♦ The Evija signals the start of a contemporary new design language for Lotus, which will evolve and reappear on future high-performance cars.

Geely opens EV research centre in Germany

The Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, or more commonly known as Geely, has announced that they have started operations on a new EV research centre based in the heart of Germany. The brand-new Geely Auto Technical Deutschland (GATD) facility is looking into employing roughly around 300 high-profile engineers and experts from around the world. (more…)

Proton In 2018: Part 11 – Ensuring Aftersales Improves & Geely Moves Up 76 Places in Global Fortune 500 [+Video]

The Zhejiang Geely Holding Group has announced that the company has moved up a whopping 76 places in the Global Fortune 500 ranking, after posting revenues in excess of US$41.1 billion in 2017.

This is the 7th year in the row that Geely has been listed in the prestigious Global Fortune 500, and for full details you can download this: ZGH 7 Years in Fortune 500 Press Release

In other news, the inaugural PROTON After Sales Service Competition 2018 will be held from 20 July to 19 August 2018. Hundreds of after sales personnel from PROTON dealers and branches will be put to the test to prove their skills, speed and accuracy in their areas of expertise. This is part of PROTON’s talent management initiative.

Designed as a platform for all after sales personnel around the country to showcase their ability and quality of work in handling customers’ cars, the competition offers an incentive trip and cash prizes worth RM50,000 to the winners. “The PROTON After Sales Service Competition is part of PROTON’s continuous effort to enhance the skills of our technicians to serve our customers better and also to reward those who show exceptional ability.

“Winners will be rewarded with an incentive trip to Shanghai, China, where they have the opportunity to visit Geely Headquarters and Geely Research Centre. This will be an eye opener for our local technicians to explore the full breadth of capabilities at Geely from design to development of the complete vehicle,” said Abdul Rashid Musa, Chief Executive Officer of PROTON Edar.

“Exceptional after sales service is the key to retain our existing customers as well as attracting new ones. When we provide good quality services to them, we are able to increase customer loyalty and benefit from them spreading the news via word-of-mouth. Technicians or mechanics play an important role in ensuring this to happen. Throughout the Competition, our technicians will compete against each other, helping them improve their skill level. Ultimately, this assists to build the quality of our after sales services and take it to a higher level to be on par with global standards,” he added.

The pre-qualifying round for PROTON After Sales Service Competition 2018 will be held in 5 regions starting from 20 July. Top three participants at the regional level will compete in the Final at COE, Subang Jaya on 13 – 15 September.

During the regional level competition, participants will be given an Engine Overhaul task where they are required to dismantle and assemble a Proton VVT engine within three hours. They will be judged based on their speed, accuracy and troubleshooting competencies throughout the process. “With improvement in sales and quality month by month, we are confident that PROTON is on the right track to grow. We recognise that good quality products allow us to sell more cars, but great service goes a long way to retain and grow our customer base so this is what PROTON is striving to achieve,” Rashid added further.

Geely officially aquires 49.9% stake in Proton

DRB-HICOM Berhad has officially signed an agreement with China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (ZGH) for the latter to take 49.9% equity in Proton Holdings Berhad. At the same time, it also sold its stake in Lotus Advance Technology Sdn Bhd to ZGH and Etika Automotive Sdn Bhd.

The signing was presided over by Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, along with DRB-HICOM Chairman, Brig. Gen. (K) Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Haji Mohd Khamil Jamil and ZGH Chairman, Li Shufu. DRB-HICOM Group Managing Director, Dato’ Sri Syed Faisal Albar signed on behalf of the Group while An Conghui, President and CEO of Geely Auto Group did the honours for ZGH.

Speaking of the signing, DRB-HICOM Group Managing Director, Dato’ Sri Syed Faisal Albar, said, “ZGH, which also owns Sweden’s Volvo Cars, The London Taxi Company and the Geely car brand, is the right partner for PROTON. Their success with Volvo and The London Taxi Company, and of course their own Geely marque shows their capability both as a bona-fide carmaker and as a partner. With ZGH on board, PROTON can now eye the huge ASEAN passenger car market with renewed confidence.”

Geely, has big plans for Proton because it plans to make the national automaker its ASEAN manufacturing hub for right-hand-drive cars. This will allow Proton access to areas it found difficult to penetrate before as well as enable it to have a better investment for R&D purposes.

Geely is also the parent company of Volvo, which it acquired in 2010 much to the surprise of many. After a significant investment in the ailing automaker’s business, Geely helped turn the Swedish marque’s fortunes around. In 2016, Volvo recorded an operating profit of $1.25 billion (RM5.36 billion), the highest it has ever since it first started operating in 1927.

Despite the Chinese automaker’s significant stake in Proton, DRB-HICOM is still the majority shareholder and is confident that Proton’s future as a national automaker is secure and that we can expect things to improve further with Geely’s help.
Whether Volvo’s success rubs off on Proton remains to be seen, but we hope that platform and technology sharing does take place, which will enable Proton to offer its next generation of vehicles with Volvo engineered technology.

Piston.my