'Number one Chinese brand': Geely won’t flood the Australian market with new models but plans to beat BYD, Chery and more Down Under

With a flood of new and affordable Chinese automakers hitting the Australian market, Geely’s Australian CEO Alex Gu explained why its strategy is a little different from that of Chery, MG or GAC.

Geely, which has such brands as Volvo, Zeekr, and Polestar under its ownership umbrella and ranks as one of China’s top-selling carmakers, said it will continue to approach the Australian market slowly.

“This is culture-wise,” Gu said.

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“Geely is fully committed and we keep patient on the market penetration. Once we decide to enter into each individual global market, we are present to be a success.

“Success is not only the volume booming. Success is also customer satisfaction and partner [dealer] satisfaction.

“So, you’ve noticed that for the Australian market, we’ve only launched two models up until today [and] for example other [rival brands] have launched 10 models, five models, six or eight models.

“Of course, they have been in the market longer, but Geely, even with two models you can notice from the VFACTs number, we try to bring ‘star’ models into each segment so we can make it successful.

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“EX5, you can already see, in April it will be a top-three [mainstream] BEV SUV. Starray EM-i? Same story. Now we are aiming to bring in EX2. These days we are taking pre-orders, which are very good figures.

“So we’ll focus on our current models, but you can believe that after we bring all new models we will study the segment fully and [bring] those models as ‘star’ models for the segment.

“We don’t want to make chaos. So we’ll bring each model to a segment in a significant position. This is our target," he said.

Despite its more measured model roll out, will Geely have a model in every segment like some of its rivals have recently declared?

“It’s a hard thing to do,” said Gu. “Even some mainstream brands, they don’t have a model in every segment. So for Geely, again we will study the market, study what customers want.

“So it’s mutual success, for Geely and for our partner, and for the market,” he said.

The brand was planning to have a seven-seat SUV, an off-roader (as previewed by the Geely Battleship 700 concept) and a ute, according to Gu.

Gu said models need to sell more than 1000 units to be considered a success.

"From my perspective, 1000 a month is a milestone for a new model, especially in mainstream segments.”

Gu said it is well known Geely is “aiming to be top five” globally.

“For the Australian market of course we have a target, each market needs to support this goal. At least for the Chinese brands in the market, we are always mentioned as the number one Chinese brand," he said.

From there Gu said it becomes a game of “how to challenge the global top three brands”.

One area Geely was particularly focused on was consistent parts supply.

Gu said it was essential for the brand to properly plan for its parts distribution centres (PDC), so that “when there is an order, we need to guarantee how to get it within 24 hours from the PDC to the customer”.

He also noted Geely had an expansive dealer network already, up to 48 locations, with a plan to “exceed 80” despite only having the two models on sale currently.

Gu said the brand would sell any purely petrol or diesel models. Instead the brand would focus on EVs, plug-in hybrids and conventional plugless hybrids.

Geely’s next model will be the EX2 electric hatchback, which is due to arrive in the third quarter of 2026. The Emgrand plug-in hybrid sedan will arrive in 2027. Gu also confirmed a seven-seat SUV (something similar to the Geely M9 shown at the Melbourne Motor Show recently) is also in the plan for the next 12 to 18 months.