However, Geely obviously doesn't want to disappoint everyone this Valentine's Day. On February 10, it was announced that its management was working with Volvo AB (Volvo Cars? ) discuss the possibility of restructuring through the merger of the two businesses.
Geely said that the restructuring plan will be completed in 2020, and the specific completion time will be promoted according to the communication results of all parties. There is no fixed timetable at present.
However, Geely also stressed that this is not because Geely's parent company ate Volvo cars, and the equal status of both parties has not changed. After the merger, the new group will maintain the independence of brands such as Volvo Car, Geely Automobile, Link and Polaris.
Geely and Volvo 10' s road of "Rubik's Cube Couple" has finally opened the skylight, and it is quite appropriate to announce this news before Valentine's Day.
Rim model
After the reform and opening-up, China's automobile industry has rapidly grown from poverty to a number of Fortune 500 automobile enterprises in more than ten years, which also gives China automobile enterprises the confidence to buy in buy buy. These acquisitions have really promoted the development of China's automobile industry.
After BAIC acquired part of Saab's technology, it launched Saab. Although Saab has shown weakness now, Saab's concept and technology have indeed promoted the development of BAIC's independent business.
More successful is SAIC's acquisition of Rover and MG. Although Rover had disintegrated at that time, the production line and technology they brought were still of great significance to the development of SAIC. Moreover, after SAIC's independent business grew up, MG's brand made it have a higher basic awareness in the European market, allowing SAIC to integrate into these traditional automobile markets faster than other independent brands.
But compared with Geely, these stories are not wonderful. When Geely bought Volvo, the market value gap between them was much larger than when SAIC bought MG. Moreover, Rover and MG had basically stopped working at that time, while Volvo was still operating normally. Volvo has better assets, but it is also more difficult to manage.
In the following 10 years, Geely relied on the rapid growth of the China market, and its market value and strength kept rising. Under the leadership of Geely, Volvo's development in China market is also smoother, and even set a brand record in 20 19, exceeding 700,000 sales.
The good development trend also allows Geely and Volvo to recognize each other in the constant running-in, and the cooperation is therefore logical. Volvo not only transferred the engine patent to Geely, but also gave birth to brands such as Polaris, Lectra and Geometry. And let them develop together in technology, which gave birth to the achievements of BMA platform. Even Geely's engineers revealed that the R&D and test data of the two brands have been integrated into the same cloud, achieving global cooperation in research and development.
Geely and Volvo "hand in hand" 10 years, both sides have achieved leap-forward development. Geely has also become the third largest automobile market in the world and a large-scale enterprise with global layout from a poor boy who started with an Emgrand car. It's no accident to pull the skylight at this time.
The essence is to marry a child.
The merger of Geely and Volvo is not only a matter of course, but also a bit of a "marriage".
Geely has achieved leap-forward development in recent years. The sales volume of Geely Automobile in China market has been rising steadily, and it has been the leader of its own brand for three consecutive years. Foreign acquisitions have never stopped.
Geely's buying rhythm in buy buy is comparable to "Double 1 1". Buying Proton, Lotus and even London Taxi Company gave Geely an overseas market, a sports car necessary for mature car companies, and even an American flying car company. In addition, it owns 9.69% of Daimler's shares, and bought 8.2% of Volvo Trucks this year. If the acquisition of Aston Martin fails, Geely will almost buy a smaller version of China Volkswagen through buy buy.
But the price of "chopping hands" is to spend an extra $654.38+0 billion. In 20 19, although Geely is still the independent champion, its sales volume has declined, and its net profit is believed to be affected. In the investment market, Geely's share price has not improved in the rapid expansion in the past two years, and even fell to a low level, making it impossible to cash out debts. The shortage of cash even made Geely consider listing Volvo's independent IPO, but unfortunately the price was not satisfactory, so it was shelved.
The merger of Geely and Volvo is also a curve to save the country. After the merger, it will continue to be listed on the Hong Kong stock market and consider entering the Swedish stock market.
The market welcomes this very much. Within a few days after the news was announced, Geely's share price rose continuously, and investment institutions were optimistic about the merger of the two. They have given investment advice on "holding" or "buying" Geely shares, and raised Geely's valuation.
The future is beneficial to both sides.
In addition to solving financial problems, the greater significance of the merger of Geely and Volvo lies in making Geely Group a world-class car. The larger capital and market scale also ensure the competitiveness of Geely Group in the situation of intensified elimination in the automobile market.
With the development of modern social civilization, human beings pay more attention to the natural environment. In order to improve urban air and delay the global warming trend, countries have also introduced stricter emission management systems. These standards can even be called harsh. Europe requires a fuel consumption level of 3.5L per 100 kilometers in 2025. If we want to achieve this goal, unless we only sell Fiat Panda, electrification is the only way out.
And intelligence has become a substantial use demand, just like smart phones eliminating functional machines, this trend is irreversible.
Electrification and intelligence make global automobile enterprises enter a new round of "arms race". No one wants to "fail without doing anything wrong" like Nokia. Every automobile enterprise is gritting its teeth and chasing the latest technology, and the accelerated iteration of technology has also brought great financial pressure to global automobile enterprises.
As an asset-intensive industry, although the profit is not low, you get what you pay for. Therefore, in the face of the trend of intelligence, Mercedes-Benz and BMW began to try multi-field cooperation, and Japanese car companies such as Subaru and Toyota began to get together. FCA and PSA with little technology accumulation can only merge and seek common development.
The same is true for the domestic market. Last year, SAIC and GAC signed a cooperation agreement to deepen their future cooperation.
Geely also needs to be horizontal and vertical. After the merger of Geely and Volvo, it can not only open up communication channels between the two parties, save administrative and management costs, but also accelerate technical cooperation and exchange, enjoy technological achievements and share research and development costs. More importantly, when Geely cooperates with Mercedes-Benz and other car companies in the future, it will also bring more voice and give Geely more active advantages.
At the same time, the merger will help Geely enhance its brand value and help Geely enter overseas markets.
Although Geely is the leading enterprise of domestic independent brands, its brand value is not high. What's more, Geely's goal is not only China, but also the global market, which also prompted Geely to acquire Proton in order to find a seaport and enhance its brand image by acquiring Lotus. The merger with Volvo will be the most direct and concise way to enhance the brand value of Geely. Volvo's status as an old luxury car in Europe will become Geely's best footnote, bringing updated changes to Geely's overseas strategy.
abstract
Now, after 10 years of running-in, both sides have realized each other's sincerity, and the merger is also the proper meaning. Of course, at present, this is only a discussion between the two sides, without any documents or restrictions. But I think such a marriage that all parties are optimistic about will eventually come true.
The epidemic that began in 2020 had a great impact on the China market, which also prompted Geely Automobile to seek breakthroughs in overseas markets and reduce the overall market risk. I believe this is also one of the driving forces leading to the accelerated merger with Volvo.
Both Geely Automobile and Volvo Automobile, as well as capital and consumers, have a positive attitude towards the merger. It is believed that these two brands, which have been running for 65,438+00 years, will eventually merge and achieve better development under the new cooperation framework.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.