#Geely

The first thing I ask any company that wants to do anything in China is: “Did you register your trademark?” Usually, they did not. I either help them registering it (costs around $1,000). If they refuse, I won’t work with them. It would be a waste of time. All too often someone else in China sees a value in that trademark. Being a “first to file” country, anybody can file any trademark in China that isn’t already filed – in China. Getting your trademark back is a long, expensive, and often hopeless case.

Ignorance takes another victim: Land Rover.

When GM tried to sell cars via eBay, 45 cars were sold in the first nine days. A month later, the idea was abandoned. Is the idea dead? Not in China.

GM’s attempt to sell cars via eBay resulted in 45 cars sold in the first nine days. A month later, the idea was abandoned. I wonder why. A few weeks ago, Kia said they would try eBay. No word yet on any results. Now, China’s Geely joins the on-line fray.

Stefan Jacoby, CEO of bought-by-Geely Volvo needs to bring down the cost of Volvo’s European-made cars.

So where will the new Volvo factories be? You have two tries.

China? Check. Volvo might actually open three factories in China, Stefan Jacoby said recently in Stockholm. Details should be forthcoming within the next weeks.

Ok, now for another country …

Volvo, now in the hands of China’s Geely, may revolutionize the way electric and hybrid cars are built. Currently, you have to shove a big honking battery into an electric car, and a simple honking battery into a hybrid. This adds weight, and obesity is a killer when in come to mileage. Volvo, working with the Imperial College in London has a wild idea: Why not dispense with the big honking battery and use the whole auto body to store electricity. Say what?

Now that Geely has bought Volvo, their founder and chairman Li Shufu is seeking a new challenge. He’s going virtual.

Geely plans to sell cars specially designed for Internet sales at Alibaba, China’s biggest online marketplace, reports state news agency Xinhua.

With the Volvo sale from Ford to Geely finally closed and consummated, Geely is losing no time, both in Sweden and in China.

In Sweden, Geely will “pursue investment opportunities” (read: buy other companies in part or in whole), reports Gasgoo, citing sources from the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). When MOFCOM gets involved, then we are talking sizeable deals. According to the report, Geely intends to cooperate with Swedish companies in several sectors, including green cars, alternative fuels, and hybrid technology. Stefan Ostling, an auto project manager from Invest Sweden, says that Geely has already completed tie-ups with Swedish auto technology consulting firms like Semcon and HiQ through equity participation and acquisitions.

Stefan Jacoby, formerly chief of Volkswagen of America, took over the wheel at now Geely-owned Volvo. That answers the question raised a few weeks ago whether he still has the job. He does.Jacoby moved with his whole family to the Hissingen district of Göteborg, Sweden. close to Volvo’s headquarters. That answers the lingering question whether Volvo will be dismantled and moved to some city in China nobody has ever heard of and nobody can spell. Not going to happen. At least not for the moment. Volvo will be managed from Sweden by a German who answers to Chinese owners. And who daydreams of a Bentley …

A bit more than a week ago, we reported that Geely might want to raise its stake in the London black cab builder Manganese Bronze from currently 20 percent to more than 51 percent. Ok, story, sit over there under the sign that says “Chinese stories, not happening.”

With all the hubbub over Volvo, it’s easy to forget that Geely already owns a foreign carmaker: Managnese Bronze, the company that makes London’s iconic black-cabs. Well, Geely doesn’t “own” Maganese, they hold a 19.97 percent share. That is about to change.

Did we say last Thursday that the sale of Volvo from Ford to Geely „could close as soon as next week?” Did I believe it? Did I live in Chine for six years? Honestly, there was an element of surprise when, this Beijing afternoon, my inbox made that noise and there was an email from Ford, titled “Ford Motor Company Completes Sale of Volvo to Geely.” The deal is closed. Volvo is Chinese.

Things did quiet down since March after Geely signed the contract to buy Volvo from Ford. A lot of people think Geely already owns Volvo. Geely doesn’t own Volvo until the deal is closed. But Geely might own Volvo as early as next week.

China’s Changan (joint venture partner of Ford, Suzuki and PSA) wants to draw on British engineering know-how and established a research-and-development center in Nottingham, England.

The European Commission concluded that the sale of Volvo to China’s Geely would not significantly impede competition in Europe (well, that would have been a stretch), and approved the transaction, says Reuters.

What are Geely’s plans for Volvo? Which cars will be built? Where and when? How many? Who will run the show? Where is the money coming from? These are just some of the questions government regulators want to know before they put their stamp of approval under the deal. We are not just talking Chinese regulators. European regulators need to give their nod also. For that, they need Geely’s plans. Some of them were leaked. Some of the leakage is quite explosive.