Geely to duplicate Swedish success: first cars, now trucks

Geely has had such success with Swedish car technology that it is now expanding into the Swedish truck segment. When it acquired Volvo Cars from Ford in 2010 it became the first Chinese car manufacturer to take over a foreign competitor. This was just the start, and the company has gone on to acquire various other overseas assets and technology. It rescued the London Taxi Company's assets from administration in 2012, later renaming the revived business London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC). It also took a 49.9% stake in Proton and a 51% stake in Lotus and fully acquired US flying car start-up Terrafugia. Alongside these automotive assets Geely also purchased a 51.5% stake in Saxo Bank, one of Denmark’s leading banks, for over US$800m.

Now it has turned its attention to heavy trucks and announced plans to acquire an 8.2% stake in AB Volvo worth about US$3.3bn.