Chinese Automaker Lays Plans To Retire Geely Name

Geely Automobile Holdings said Tuesday that the Geely brand would be gone by 2012. However, the Chinese auto company will soldier on with its Gleagle, Emgrand and Shanghai Englon brands. In other words, Geely will no longer market a car that bears the parent company’s name.

The automaker, which recently bought Volvo from Ford, said that it planned to add more dealerships for its Emgrand luxury brand, and that its Shanghai Englon brand would focus on economy vehicles.

While China’s auto industry has seen phenomenal growth, the torrid pace has slowed a bit in recent months. The Associated Press reported that while March sales in China were up 60 percent from the month a year earlier, the August increase came in at only 18 percent.


 

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tango - 9/8/2010 5:59:40 PM

+2 Boost

The Chinese should hire linguists to handle their automotive nomenclature. It is poor to say the least. They have a commercial vehicle manufacturer named Go Now. If they would only take their own name to heart...<sigh>

DWolff - 9/8/2010 6:48:20 PM

+2 Boost

Maybe because Geely is synonymous with plagarism

thstone - 9/8/2010 7:09:15 PM

0 Boost

Laugh now. In 20 years your kids (or maybe your grandkids) will be driving them and thinking how cool it is to drive a First or a Maple.

They won't care where they are from since they will have always known that products come from a world economy and free trade which cares little about nationalistic borders.

All they wlll know is that a Maple is faster and handles better than a comparable Honda or Toyota and costs 20% less. They'll be the Hyundai's of today.

WorldofLuxury - 9/8/2010 7:37:52 PM

+3 Boost

That's the thing. People complain about Lexus' lack of prestige, but in the future, people will only dream about the first Lexus, the first Lexus supercar, etc. because of their big impacts while the later ones weren't as awe-inspiring.

Just think about how people want the old Ferrari models, and even though some of them weren't that pretty and many weren't great performers, they're still something many of us want.

Joe_Limon - 9/8/2010 8:03:04 PM

+1 Boost

weird... Geely is the only one in that list that carries any recognition period... I guess they do need a clean slate...

edeus123 - 9/8/2010 10:40:46 PM

+2 Boost

Oh, it will be truly missed. That name just does something to me and inspires me to achieve great heights.

uaw_lax - 9/9/2010 3:19:53 AM

+1 Boost

It's pretty obvious they will use the Volvo name as the parent company now that they own it because it's far more globally recognized than Geely.

lexusrox123 - 9/9/2010 9:17:57 PM

+1 Boost

THey have the weirdest names. I can't stand 'em.