This notable rise allowed Geely to surpass prestigious companies such as Mercedes-Benz Group and BMW. Such a performance highlights Geely's growing prominence in the global automotive market.
Alongside Geely, other Chinese automakers like BYD, Changan Automobile, Chery Automobile, and SAIC Motor also featured within the top 20 rankings according to MarkLines data. This indicates a significant presence of Chinese manufacturers in the global automotive industry.
In particular, Geely's brand performances were impressive. Its new energy vehicle brand, Zeekr, saw sales more than double. Meanwhile, Volvo Car, which operates under the Geely Group, experienced a 12% sales growth.
In the first quarter of 2024, the five Chinese players in the top 20 saw combined sales volume surge more than 20%. Overall sales growth for the top 20 carmakers came to 2%.
BYD also demonstrated strong results with total sales of 620,000 units and an EV sales figure of 300,000. Their performance marked a significant rise but still trailed behind Tesla’s 380,000 EVs sold in the same period.
Another area where Chinese automakers are expanding rapidly is overseas markets. Geely’s overseas sales grew by an astonishing 43%. Meanwhile, BYD reported a phenomenal growth of 150%, particularly targeting regions such as Europe and Southeast Asia.
Within China between January and March of that year alone, electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids constituted about one third of all car sales (32%).
Source: Nikkei
