On March 20, Geely Automobile Holdings Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Geely Automobile") released its 2023 financial report. According to the financial report, in 2023, Geely Automobile will achieve operating income of 179.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21%, a record high, a net profit attributable to the parent company of 5.308 billion yuan, compared with a net profit attributable to the parent company of 3.511 billion yuan after excluding one-time bargaining acquisition gains in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 51%, and a year-on-year increase of 46% to 28.4 billion yuan in net cash.
Image source: Geely Automobile (the same below)
Geely Automobile revealed that its profitability improved significantly during the year, with gross profit improved due to product structure optimization, cost reduction and scale effect, with total gross profit increasing by 31% year-on-year to 27.4 billion, and gross profit margin increasing from 14.1% in 2022 to 15.3% in 2023.
On the same day, Geely Automobile held its 2023 results conference, which was attended by a number of its senior executives, who further interpreted Geely Automobile's 2023 performance and related performance, and disclosed a number of follow-up plans. Among them, the key information is summarized as follows:
"The sales target of new energy vehicles in 2024 will increase by more than 66%"
In 2023, Geely Automobile exceeded its sales target, with a total annual sales volume of 1.687 million units, of which 487,000 were new energy vehicles, and the total annual sales volume and new energy sales reached a record high.
According to Dai Yong, deputy CFO and general manager of the financial center of Geely Automobile Group, the proportion of Geely Automobile's new energy products increased steadily during the year, with a penetration rate of 29% and a monthly penetration rate of more than 40%. According to previous information, the penetration rate of Geely Automobile's new energy vehicles in the first half of 2023 will be 22.7%.
Separately, as a mid-to-high-end new energy series of the Geely brand, "Geely Galaxy" has been firmly building a high-value new energy intelligent boutique car of 10-200,000 yuan since its official release in February 2023, and the three products of Galaxy L7, Galaxy L6 and Galaxy E8 have been intensively new, forming a product layout of pure electric + electric hybrid and sedan + SUV in the mainstream new energy market, and the cumulative sales volume has exceeded 110,000 units in 9 months on the market.
The Lynk & Co brand will achieve sales of more than 220,000 units in 2023, a year-on-year increase of more than 22%. During the year, Lynk & Co launched a number of new energy models equipped with plug-in hybrid technology, such as the Lynk & Co 09, Lynk & Co 08 and Lynk & Co 06. Among them, the sales volume of Lynk & Co 08 EM-P has increased steadily after its listing, and it is reported that the average transaction price has reached 220,000 yuan.
ZEEKR will accelerate its evolution in 2023, launching two new models and continuously expanding its product matrix. ZEEKR delivered a total of 119,000 new vehicles throughout the year, a year-on-year increase of 65%. By the end of 2023, the cumulative delivery of the Zeekr brand has exceeded 190,000 units.
According to the plan, in 2024, Geely Automobile's annual sales target is 1.9 million units, an increase of 13% over the total sales in 2023, of which the sales target for new energy vehicles will increase by more than 66% compared with the total sales achieved in 2023.
Based on this goal, Dai Yong revealed that in 2024, the Geely brand will launch three new energy products, the Lynk & Co brand will launch three new energy products, the first new energy mid-size sedan Lynk & Co 07 EM-P will be launched in the first quarter, and the Zeekr brand will launch three new energy products.
In terms of channels, Geely Galaxy adopts the model of "user center (4S store) + experience center (city exhibition hall) + exhibition space (supermarket store)", and the number of independent stores will be expanded to 800 by the end of 2024. On the charging pile network, Geely Galaxy has planned an exclusive "energy supply park" for users, and the scale of 300 will be achieved by the end of 2024.
"Confident to catch up with BYD again"
At the press conference, when asked about when Geely will surpass BYD, Gui Shengyue, CEO and Executive Director of Geely Automobile Holdings Co., Ltd., said: "We are confident that we will catch up again and return to the glory we had in 2017 and 2018. ”
He pointed out that from some aspects, Geely Automobile has shown signs of catching up with and surpassing its competitors in the future, such as Zeekr, which has now firmly established itself in the luxury intelligent pure electric market.
"Of course, BYD is very good and we have to learn from him now, but I don't think we're all worse than them. Gui Shengyue said that Geely is confident that it will achieve the ultimate victory in the fierce competition in the automobile market.
In his view, there are four main sources of confidence:
First, Geely Automobile has great capabilities and potential for new energy and intelligence, which has been confirmed in the current achievements;
Second, Geely Automobile has the ability to respond to market changes at any time to meet the needs of various users and maintain the healthy and stable development of the company.
Third, Geely Automobile insists on fighting value warfare and moral warfare, and Geely Automobile is responsible for users and environmental protection every time it sells a car, and "long-termism" will definitely be rewarded by the market;
Fourth, the advantages of the entire Geely Group will also be fully reflected in Geely Automobile, such as AI, maps, satellites and other achievements will empower Geely Auto and further establish Geely Automobile's leading position.
"Don't simply fight a price war"
"2023 is a very volatile year. Geely Automobile Group CEO Gan Jiayue mentioned that in 2023, the discount rate of the automotive industry will reach 8%, while the discount rate in previous years is basically around 2%.
Of course, he also pointed out that in 2024, the price war will be more intense, "the knockout round has fully begun, and the competition in China's automotive industry has entered the stage of reshuffling." ”
As for how to deal with the price war, he said: "Geely has been emphasizing that we must not simply fight a price war, but also fight a value war, that is, under the premise of maintaining a price advantage, we still have to give customers more value, so that customers have a very good experience in terms of safety, quality, technology, etc." Disorderly price competition, which we believe will make the development of enterprises unsustainable. ”
He emphasized that Geely adheres to long-term philosophy and always adheres to the elements of "quality first, safety first" to create new products. Of course, it will also give full play to the advantages of scale, systematic efficiency and innovation ability to effectively promote product cost reduction and efficiency increase.
According to Geely Automobile, with the completion of the comprehensive layout of new energy, Geely Automobile will continue to strengthen its industrial advantages and internal synergy and integration, and it is expected that the profitability will continue to improve in the future.
Dai Yong said that the positive impact of product and technology synergies on profitability has begun to be highlighted in the second half of 2023, and the profit attributable to shareholders in the second half of 2023 increased by 138% compared with the first half of the year. In 2024, as more new products are launched and sales volume increases, the scale effect is expected to be further expanded, thereby stimulating the improvement of profitability.
According to him, the three major brands of Geely, Zeekr and Lynk & Co will also launch more targeted measures to further improve profitability on the basis of scale.
Geely brand, fuel vehicles focus on 2 core architecture of 6 hot-selling products, new energy vehicles on the basis of the Galaxy series has established a reputation, will improve marketing channels and enhance popularity, expand its market share, under the premise of increasing the proportion of new energy, through the scale of efforts to achieve the goal of continuous improvement in profitability.
The Lynk & Co brand, continuing the success of 08 EM-P, launched 1 plug-in hybrid and 2 pure electric products, Europe will continue to enhance the brand influence, focus on retail, use the group's European resources to strengthen marketing channels and launch new products, enrich the product line, through the launch of a new generation of Lynk & Co products, create star products, and strive to reverse the loss in 2023 and return to the goal of sustainable profitability.
The sales target of the ZEEKR brand has been increased to 230,000 units, and three new models have been added to enter more market segments, expanding overseas markets, realizing the export of high-value products, and striving to achieve the goal of turning losses into profits under the premise of increasing sales and gross profit.
"The overseas layout adheres to the principle of 'going out, going in, and going up'"
In 2023, Geely Automobile's cumulative export sales reached 274,101 units, a year-on-year increase of more than 38%.
By the end of 2023, Geely had 533 sales and service outlets in 70 countries around the world, continuing to break through the business layout of Europe, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.
The Lynk & Co brand adheres to the dual circulation at home and abroad, promotes the "European strategy" and "Asia-Pacific strategy", and will increase sales in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions by 150% in 2023, accelerating the market in Asia-Pacific countries. In addition to opening up new markets such as Israel, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Macau and Vietnam, it will also accelerate the development of potential markets such as Southeast Asia and Latin America in the future.
ZEEKR officially started the pace of globalization, and has entered the markets of many countries and regions such as Europe and the Middle East, and ZEEKR 001 and ZEEKR X have been delivered in overseas markets one after another. The first batch of overseas ZEEKR direct stores were completed and opened in Sweden and the Netherlands. In addition to the European market, ZEEKR has signed general agency agreements with a number of Middle East and Asian countries. The right-hand drive models of the ZEEKR 009 and ZEEKR X will go on sale in Singapore, Hong Kong and other regions later in 2024.
Combined with previous news, by 2024, ZEEKR will expand its coverage in the European market to 6 countries, further enter 8 countries by 2025, and achieve coverage of most core countries in Western Europe in 2026.
According to Ganjiayue, Geely Automobile has formed a unique model in Malaysia, and through technology, supply chain empowerment and production capacity synergy, Proton Automobile's market share has increased from the initial 9% to 20%.
He said that Geely Automobile's overseas layout adheres to "going out, going in, and going up". Adhering to the strategic goal of "going up", Geely Automobile will promote the localization of brand operations and enhance its core competitiveness overseas.
"Balanced layout of multiple energy routes"
Geely Automobile pointed out that it has a balanced layout of multiple energy routes. This is to mention some of its actions in intelligent hybrid and three-electric.
The Leishen electric hybrid is Geely Automobile's new generation of Leishen electric hybrid platform, according to its statement, this platform is at a high level in terms of thermal efficiency, performance and energy saving. It is reported that as the "user" of this platform, the sales of the "China Star" high-end series will reach 332,163 units in 2023, accounting for more than 25% of the Geely brand's sales. Up to now, the cumulative sales of the "China Star" high-end series have exceeded 940,000 units since its launch.
The Lynk & Co EM-P super extended range electric solution is said to have excellent performance in terms of performance and battery life. It is reported that as the "user" of this program, the sales of Lynk & Co 08 EM-P continued to rise after its launch.
In addition, ZEEKR adheres to full-stack self-research and takes the lead in releasing the 800V ultra-fast charging full ecological solution, including the 800V high-voltage architecture, the world's first mass-produced lithium iron phosphate battery with the fastest 800V charging speed - gold brick battery, and the charging pile pole charger V3 with a single-gun output power of up to 800kW.
In addition, Geely Automobile's high-end "body battery integration" technology has been steadily promoted, and a complete set of high-end three-electric technologies such as "11-in-1 intelligent electric drive, self-developed new formula battery, and wireless BMS" based on the new-generation CTB platform will be applied for the first time in the industry on Geely Galaxy's mainstream products.
It is reported that based on Geely's self-developed distributed wheel electric drive and a new generation of 11-in-1 distributed wheel electric drive, Geely Galaxy will take the lead in making mainstream products "tank U-turn".
"Intelligent layout further accelerated"
In the past year, Geely Automobile has made remarkable progress in the fields of intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit, with the intelligent layout further accelerating and the core technology continuing to iterate.
According to the official introduction of the company, in terms of intelligent driving, Geely NOA high-end intelligent driving assistance system has been released nationwide, and has been installed on Geely Galaxy L7, Xingyue L Zhiqing, Boyue L and other models.
The Lynk & Co NOA intelligent driving system will be officially launched in 2023, and has covered 31 provincial-level administrative regions in October, and most highways and some elevated roads can use the Lynk & Co NOA intelligent driving system.
In addition, the full-stack self-developed high-end intelligent driving assistance system - Haohan Intelligent Driving is first equipped with the latest model ZEEKR 007, covering all scenarios of intelligent parking, high-speed and city. ZEEKR NZP high-speed autonomous navigation assistance has been opened in 22 cities including Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou.
In terms of intelligent operating system, Flyme Auto, jointly developed by Geely and Meizu, has realized the intelligent ecology of "hand-car integration", and has completed its first ride in Lynk & Co 08. Geely has also developed its own full-stack distributed operating system, Galaxy N OS.
In terms of intelligent cockpit chips, Geely has launched China's first self-developed automotive-grade 7nm intelligent cockpit chip "Dragon Eagle No. 1", which can provide 100K DMIPS computing power and 900GFLOPS graphics rendering capability in a single chip, and integrates dual computing modules into the ECARX Antola 1000 Pro intelligent cockpit computing platform, which has been officially installed on the Lynk & Co 08.
Geely has also developed its own intelligent driving chips, high-precision positioning chips, AI voice chips, etc. In addition, it also launched the 8295 intelligent cockpit computing platform, which was mass-produced and launched by ZEEKR 001FR and equipped with ZEEKR 007.
"'Heaven and Earth Integration' Large-scale Travel Ecology Further Improved"
In February this year, Geely's future mobility constellation was successfully launched into orbit with 11 stars, marking the further improvement of Geely's "space-ground integration" travel ecosystem, which will empower Geely's models with autonomous driving and intelligent network services.
It is reported that at present, Geely's future travel constellation has completed the launch and deployment of 2 orbital planes, and the number of satellites in orbit has reached 20. Geely's Geely Galaxy E8 model will be the first to be equipped with self-developed satellite communication technology, which allows users to send and receive satellite messages through the vehicle machine without terrestrial network coverage or damage to the terrestrial network, which is said to achieve safe travel "never lost contact".
According to the plan, Geely's future travel constellation will complete the networking of a total of 72 low-orbit satellites in 8 orbits in the first phase of the constellation within two years to achieve global real-time data communication, and expand to 168 satellites in the second phase to achieve global centimeter-level high-precision positioning services.
Based on the "space-ground integration" satellite communication technology, NOA high-end intelligent driving assistance system, and Flyme Auto intelligent operating system, Geely Automobile's intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit will continue to iterate.
According to Geely Automobile, Galaxy Intelligent Driving 2.0 focuses on "urban commuting NOA", through the repeated memory of "point-to-point" high-frequency routes, repeated training, and makes urban NOA safer, this set of intelligent driving solutions will be the first ride on the Galaxy E8 starship intelligent driving version, and various functions will be opened within this year.
In addition, in 2024, Lynk & Co will also implement a high-end intelligent driving solution equipped with lidar.