{"id":107449,"date":"2021-02-19T05:48:28","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T05:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=107449"},"modified":"2021-02-19T05:48:28","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T05:48:28","slug":"geely-departs-from-convention-with-plan-for-new-ev-unit-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/geely-departs-from-convention-with-plan-for-new-ev-unit-sources\/","title":{"rendered":"Geely departs from convention with plan for new EV unit: sources"},"content":{"rendered":"
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China\u2019s Geely plans to set up a firm to explore new approaches to product planning, marketing and sales of electric vehicles (EV), sources said, departing from industry convention whereby EVs are marketed and sold alongside traditional cars.<\/p> The plan would be Geely\u2019s latest push to operate differently after announcing a flurry of tie-ups last month aimed at turning the automaker into a leading EV contract manufacturer and engineering service provider, in its fight against the incursion of EV leader Tesla Inc.<\/p>\n The owner of Volvo Cars and 9.7% of Daimler AG will establish Lingling Technologies this year to manage models based on its open-source EV chassis base, announced in September and dubbed Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA), three people said.<\/p>\n The unit will also take over marketing and sales of SEA-based EVs under Geely\u2019s Lynk & Co brand – starting with the Zero model – as well as those under its mass-market Geometry marque, they said, declining to be identified as the plan was private.<\/p>\n Geely declined to comment.<\/p>\n Geely\u2019s main listed firm, Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, sold 1.32 million cars last year. However, it saw sales of electric vehicles, petrol-battery hybrid vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles decline as drivers turned to conventional petrol-powered cars as well as rival EVs with longer driving ranges.<\/p>\n Management realised the need to develop, market and sell EVs in a different way to conventional cars and so decided to set up a separate company, the people said.<\/p>\n The new entity has yet to be registered and its formal name yet to be decided, the people said.<\/p>\n It will conduct research and implement updates for SEA-related technology independent of conventional vehicle divisions, and will source market data differently to develop EV models accordingly, they said.<\/p>\n It will have an independent sales team and will open showrooms in city centres, some with dealers and some self-managed where it will directly control pricing and inventory, two of the people said.<\/p>\n