Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, China’s largest private carmaker, has acquired a 7.6% stake in loss-making British luxury carmaker Aston Martin. Geely, which owns Swedish brand Volvo and has stakes in Germany's Daimler and British sports car brand Lotus, said its “well-established track record and technology offerings” can contribute to Aston Martin’s future success. “We look forward to exploring potential opportunities to engage and collaborate with Aston Martin as it continues to execute its strategy to achieve long-term, sustainable growth and increased profitability,” said Li Donghui, CEO of the Chinese automaker. Lawrence Stroll, Executive Chairman of Aston Martin, said he would like to welcome Geely Holding as a new shareholder. Stroll’s investment fund remains the British carmaker’s largest shareholder.
There are several high-performance electronic technologies that Geely can share with Aston Martin, including those from the Chinese carmaker’s Polestar and Lotus brands, said experts. Polestar is an electric car startup, and Lotus is developing electric sports cars and SUVs. The SUVs are made in a plant in Hubei province, and will primarily be sold in China. Aston Martin is choosing its partner for its first electric model, which is scheduled to be launched in 2025, and from 2026, all the automaker’s new vehicles will have an electric option. The century-old British brand reported an operating loss of USD104 million for 2021. Its sales stood at around 6,200 vehicles last year, with China being one of its biggest markets.
Going global is now high on Chinese carmakers’ business strategies as they try to seize opportunities arising from their early-mover advantages in the new energy vehicle (NEV) sector. In late September, Warren Buffett-backed BYD launched three EV models – the Atto 3, the Tang and the Han – for European customers. The presale price for the Atto 3 is €38,000 in Germany. The Han and the Tang have a pre-sale price of €72,000, rivaling models from local premium brands. The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), said the average price of exported electric vehicles was USD11,000 in 2020, rising to USD25,800 by August. SAIC Motor, China’s largest carmaker, shipped 10,000 of its MG4 hatchbacks to Europe in September, marking the country’s largest shipment of electric cars overseas. In the fourth quarter, the MG4 is expected to be sold in around 20 European nations. By 2023, it will be available in some 80 countries worldwide. The MG4 EV is the first model that SAIC built using its dedicated electric platform. It was the result of work by SAIC’s Chinese and British teams, and was developed based on new car quality standards in a number of different countries. In the first eight months of this year, China’s vehicle exports reached 1.82 million, up 52.8% year-on-year. Among them, 341,000 were electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, the China Daily reports.
