Geely Chairman: No More Automotive Deals

Since 2010, Chinese car brand Geely has been snapping up company purchases at a record pace. Beginning in 2010, through the guidance of its CEO Li Shufu, Geely acquired Swedish make Volvo from Ford Motor Co. for $1.8 billion. Since then, it has established stakes in more than a handful of global car brands, both major and minor.

After the whirlwind of purchasing activity, Li, who is also the founder and main owner of Geely, said that his company no longer has any plans to buy further stakes in any other car brand.

“Currently we have no plans for further purchases. We will concentrate for now on the development of existing holdings. There are many ideas, and there is much to do,” Li said in an interview.

2017 was quite the busy year for Li’s company. Over the course of the year, Li also obtained a $3.3 billion stake in Volvo’s truck division AB Volvo, a majority stake in sports car maker Lotus, a 49.9 percent stake in Malaysia’s Proton, as well as flying car startup Terrafugia. Li already owns London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC), a taxi cab manufacturer based in the UK.

News also broke out last week that Li already purchased a $9 billion stake in Daimler AG, which shocked the market including those in Germany who have long feared that their highly prized industrial expertise will be owned by the Chinese.

When asked about his opinion on German concern, Li said his focus was on improving current technology for the future.

“For me, it’s not about available technology but what is coming in the future. Or to put it another way, I would like a slice of a cake that is bigger than the cake of today,” he said.

Li was also open to working with Daimler on electric cars. When asked about Daimler’s partnership with other Chinese car brands such as BAIC or BYD, he said that he didn’t plan to interfere with any agreements that have already been set, and added that all parties can benefit from each other’s ideas.