Geely becomes top-selling Chinese standalone brand

Selling in excess of 55 000 vehicles - a good chunk more than the total South African passenger vehicle market of 39 738 new cars in January - the cherry on the cake was the fact that Geely outsold its major Chinese rival by more than 20% (55 100 units compared to 46 100).

"Geely is fast becoming a much more respected brand, thanks to its new focus on quality and safety, no doubt something that has been accelerated due to technology transfers after the private company's acquisition of Swedish automaker Volvo in 2010," said Henri Meistre, MD of Geely SA.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) recently announced that January vehicle sales grew to 2.3 million vehicles - an increase of 46.38% over January 2012 and up 12.41% over that of December. Passenger vehicle sales reached 1.72 million vehicles - an increase of 48.68% over January 2012. These numbers include those of joint ventures with major European manufacturers.