Geely Automobile Holdings this year will unveil a premium brand with vehicles developed jointly on platforms with Volvo Car Corp., according to a Chinese media report.
The new brand will compete with global mass-market marques such as Volkswagen and Honda in China, reported XCar, a Beijing-based website.
The first vehicle to be marketed under the new brand will be a crossover. The vehicle will be built at Geely's plant in Zhangjiakou in north China's Hebei province.
The Zhangjiakou factory, which cost 4.7 billion yuan ($306 million), will start production this year. After reaching full capacity, it will produce up to 200,000 vehicles a year, XCar reported.
In the first five months, Geely sold 233,763 vehicles in China, a gain of 7 percent from the same period last year.
Geely, headquartered in the east China city of Hangzhou, is listed in Hong Kong. Its parent, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., also owns Volvo Car.
Source:Automotive News China