Geely tops sales of Chinese carmakers in 2020 H1

Hong Kong-listed Geely Auto sold 110,129 vehicles in June, up 21 percent year-on-year, as the Chinese auto market rebounds from the pandemic.

The carmaker said on Monday that its sales in the first half of 2020 totaled 530,446 vehicles, ranking first among Chinese carmakers and accounting for 38 percent of its goal of delivering 1.41 million cars this year.

An Conghui, Geely president and CEO, said the company will make every effort to move forward and realize its annual sales goal.

Geely has registered positive growth for three months since April. Its market share by the end of May grew to 6.88 percent in China, up 0.53 percentage points from the same period in 2019.

Its high-end brand, Lynk & Co, gained popularity as well. In June, its deliveries reached 13,214, up 53 percent year-on-year. It marked the third consecutive month in which Lynk & Co had seen double-digit growth.

The accumulated sales of the brand, which is a joint venture between Geely and Volvo, have exceeded 300,000 units.

Geely said Lynk & Co will start selling a plug-in hybrid model in Europe in the second half of 2020.

Lynk & Co is also the first Chinese carmaker to partner with Waymo, as part of the deal Volvo struck with Alphabet's autonomous driving unit in June.

To help in Geely's efforts to become a tech company, the carmaker announced its plan in late June to list in China's Nasdaq-like STAR board in Shanghai, which will diversify its fundraising sources. Geely is currently listed in Hong Kong.