Geely plans to sell 490,000 vehicles in 2011

Geely Holding Group expected to experience an annual increase of 22 percent in 2010, which was seen as very "conservative", compared with its competitors such as Chery Automobile Co., Ltd and BYD Company Ltd. But the target was steady and feasible for a company that is making its breakthrough in the high-end vehicle market.

The company will continue its practical strategy to sell 490,000 units of its models in 2011, up 18 percent from last year.

"Geely is adjusting its strategic goal from 'rapid development' to 'steady development'," said Yang Jian, president of Geely.

Geely held its annual operations and management conference at the company's headquarters in Hangzhou, and Yang raised the strategic goal of "two changes and two adjustments". This means that the company will focus more on the international market, product quality, brand management and the company's stable development.

The new target is clearly different from previous ones that seemed aggressive.

2011 is the first year that Geely begins to carry out its five-year plan to sell 1 million units by 2015. Liu Jinliang, sales manager of Geely, said that the company has developed over 40 new models, dozens of which will be gradually introduced to the market every year, and the production capacity of each model is estimated at 300, 000 units per year.

But the stable goal of 2011 could suggest that Geely will slower its pace to reach this 1-million target.

This goal transition is mainly due to the big changes in the auto market, and Liu thinks that the Chinese auto market will not maintain it growth rate of 30 percent a year, but it may be 10 percent or so. He also said that the domestic self-owned brands will be the biggest victim during these changes.

In addition, Geely's systematic development also contributes to the goal changes. According to Liu, one of Geely's important tasks is to strengthen the company's systematic development.

Geely does not divide its brands like other automakers into high, middle and low. Instead, it concentrates on consumer needs. For instance, the product image for the Gleagle is "vitality, breakthrough and significance."