Who owns Geely? The ownership chain, Geely Holding's stake and the 1997 deal
Facts checked Chinese holding 100%
Geely is Chinese. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group is a private company founded by Li Shufu; the Geely Auto badge, including the Galaxy line, is its mass-market brand in China and abroad. The same group owns Volvo Cars, Polestar, Lotus, Zeekr, Lynk & Co, LEVC and half of smart, which is why so many European marques trace back to it.
The Geely passenger car brand, including the Galaxy line, sits inside Geely Automobile Holdings, the listed company Geely Holding controls. Geely Holding entered car making in 1997 and its first car left the line at Linhai, Zhejiang, on 8 August 1998.
The short answer
| Controlled by | Geely Holding |
|---|---|
| Stake | not published |
| Since | 1997 |
| Kind | brand |
| Origin | CN |
| Name in Chinese | 吉利 “JEE-lee” |
| Top of the chain | Li Shufu |
| Is it Chinese? | Yes |
The chain, step by step
Li Shufu owns Geely Holding at 82.23% since 1986.
Li Shufu founded Geely Holding in 1986 and owns 82.233% of it directly; his son Li Xingxing holds 8.0583% and Ningbo Yima Enterprise Management Partnership 9.7087%, which Polestar's 2025 annual report summarises as Li Shufu owning about 91.9% directly or indirectly.
Geely Holding controls Geely since 1997.
The Geely passenger car brand, including the Galaxy line, sits inside Geely Automobile Holdings, the listed company Geely Holding controls. Geely Holding entered car making in 1997 and its first car left the line at Linhai, Zhejiang, on 8 August 1998.
| Holder | Holds | Kind | Stake | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Li Shufu | Geely Holding | owns | 82.23% | 1986 |
| Geely Holding | Geely | controls | controls | 1997 |
Geely: questions people ask
- How do you pronounce Geely?
- JEE-lee, with a hard J as in 'jeep' and the stress on the first syllable. It transliterates the Chinese 吉利 (Jílì), which means 'auspicious' or 'lucky'.
- Is Geely Chinese?
- Yes. Geely is the passenger car brand of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, a private company founded in Zhejiang province in 1986 and based in Hangzhou. It was the first privately owned carmaker in China.
- What is Geely Galaxy?
- Galaxy, 银河 Yinhe in China, is Geely's line of plug-in hybrid and electric models, launched as a product series in 2023 and run as its own brand since 2025. It sold 1.24 million units in 2025.
- Are Geely cars sold in the United States?
- No. The Geely brand is not sold in the US. Within the group, Volvo Cars sells there and Polestar has been barred from selling model year 2027 and later cars under the US connected vehicle rule.
Related
Sources for Geely
- Geely Auto, Geely Auto Exceeds 3.02 Million Vehicle Sales in 2025, Sets New Growth Targets for 2026. Read .
- Geely Auto, Geely Auto Achieves Record Overseas Growth in First Half of 2026. Read . Also the source for the European market entries and the export model-name crosswalk.
- Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Overview. Read .
- Wikipedia, Geely Auto (article). Read . Finding aid for the 1998 Haoqing and the first-private-carmaker point.
- Wikipedia, List of automobile manufacturers of China. Read . Geely Holding listed among major private Chinese manufacturers with Geely Auto, Zeekr, Lynk & Co, Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, smart, LEVC and Proton.
- Lotus Technology Inc (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission), Lotus Technology Inc., Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2025, Item 6.E Share Ownership, footnote 6. Read . Percentages as disclosed for 28 February 2026.
- Polestar (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission), Polestar Automotive Holding UK PLC, Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2025, Item 7.A. Read .