After years of rapid development, there are more and more automotive brands and products in the Chinese automotive market, but technology and functions are becoming increasingly homogeneous, and a large-scale integration and elimination is inevitable.

After Volkswagen took a stake in XPeng and STELLANTIS Group acquired Leap Motor, the bankruptcy of HiPhi and the difficulties faced by NIO will not be the last. The upcoming year 2025 will be a cleansing of the new energy vehicle market.

Geely, which has the most automotive brands, took the lead and merged LYNK&CO into Zeekr, which had only recently completed its IPO, to create the Zeekr Technology Group, with the goal of becoming a new energy vehicle group with annual production and sales exceeding one million units within two years.

LYNK&CO is an independent high-end brand jointly established by Geely and Volvo, while Zeekr was once the new energy vehicle project of LYNK&CO, focusing on the luxury pure electric vehicle market.

Zeekr has now come from behind, and while it may seem inevitable due to the development of the Chinese automotive market, many people do not understand Li Shufu's brilliance.

The first step of Zeekr's merger with LYNK&CO is more like a cooperative model of an automotive alliance. Zeekr controls LYNK&CO with a 51% stake and forms the Zeekr Technology Group, enabling Geely to truly achieve bipolar drive.

The brands, markets, and after-sales services of Zeekr and LYNK&CO will continue to operate independently, but research and development, manufacturing, and procurement will be fully integrated, similar to the relationship between Toyota and Lexus, but full integration in the future is also a high probability expectation.

After Geely vigorously developed the Yinhe new energy brand and merged the Geometry brand, the independent operation of Zeekr and LYNK&CO was difficult to achieve a breakthrough in scale and sales, making it difficult to gain a competitive advantage.

After transforming into plug-in hybrid vehicles, LYNK&CO began to venture into the pure electric vehicle market, while Zeekr also plans to launch extended-range hybrid products, and it is inevitable that there will be conflicts in product planning between the two sides, such as the conflict between the LYNK&CO Z10 and the Zeekr 001.

By merging, Zeekr and LYNK&CO can avoid internal consumption and further integrate resources that were originally mixed and shared, creating a true trump card in the new energy vehicle market and achieving a 1+1>2 effect.

By launching four models on one platform with one technology, BYD achieved a leapfrog in China's new energy vehicles with its dual technologies of plug-in hybrids and pure electrics, and its dual brands of Dynasty and Ocean. Such cost and efficiency advantages are urgently needed for new energy vehicles and are a lifeline for automakers to cope with the current internal competition in the Chinese automotive market.

My interest in Geely stems from its high-profile acquisition of the international luxury brand Volvo. At the time, many people did not understand why Li Shufu insisted on acquiring Volvo, and why Volvo was willing to sell.

Years after the acquisition, Volvo became profitable and became an important fulcrum for Geely's brand elevation and global market expansion, ultimately giving birth to the independent high-end brand LYNK&CO, demonstrating Li Shufu's far-reaching layout for Geely's development direction.

In the past, joint venture automakers launched joint venture autonomous brands, and independent automakers developed independent high-end brands. Today, only a few brands remain, such as Venucia, Trumpchi, WEY, and LYNK&CO, but LYNK&CO is one of the most successful examples of high-end independent brands.

As the Chinese automotive market accelerates its electrification and intelligentization, LYNK&CO's new energy vehicle project was eventually upgraded to become the independent company Zeekr, which is also a common practice in the industry. However, from the design and cabin technology of its first model, the Zeekr 001, it can be seen that this was more of an experimental operation.

However, the speed at which new energy vehicles are replacing fuel vehicles has surprised everyone. The market penetration rate is about to historically surpass that of fuel vehicles, and the development speed of Zeekr far exceeds that of LYNK&CO, even surprising Li Shufu himself.

From the Zeekr 001, Zeekr 009, to the latest Zeekr MIX, Zeekr has become a master of Geely's new energy vehicle technology, achieving unprecedented breakthroughs for Geely and even the Chinese automotive industry.

In November 2024, Zeekr delivered 27,011 new vehicles, an increase of 106% year-on-year, setting a new high for three consecutive months with cumulative sales of nearly 400,000 units. Just a year ago, Zeekr's sales almost entirely relied on the pure electric crossover, the Zeekr 001.

At the same time, LYNK&CO sold 32,679 vehicles in November, an increase of nearly 9% year-on-year, with new energy vehicles accounting for 61% and cumulative sales exceeding 1.31 million units.

Perhaps it is the tremendous achievements of Zeekr that gave Li Shufu the courage to launch the Yinhe new energy series and truly go all in, engaging in a fierce battle with BYD.

Once, independent automakers such as Geely, BYD, Chery, and Great Wall stood on the same starting line to compete against joint venture automakers, which could be described as a weak alliance fighting a losing battle.

Over the years, Geely has successively acquired Volvo and Proton, launched the LYNK&CO brand, taken a stake in Mercedes-Benz to acquire the smart brand, and cooperated with Renault on hybrid technology globally. Geely Automobile has become a leader among independent automakers and the first hope for Chinese automobiles to enter the global market.

However, after years of acquisitions, Geely, as one of the automakers with the most brands, inevitably fell into a chaotic situation with different teams of different styles and backgrounds, and integration was imminent.

The fierce competition in the Chinese automotive market is no longer just like sailing against the current; it is more like navigating through stormy seas and overcoming hidden reefs.

With the rapid development of new energy vehicles, BYD has surpassed Geely and even overtaken FAW-Volkswagen, becoming the number one automaker in China with annual production and sales of 4 million vehicles.

Chery has become a global business card for Chinese automobiles, maintaining the top spot in exports for many years. Now, it is experiencing comprehensive growth in both domestic and international markets, as well as in both fuel and plug-in hybrid markets.

To cope with the life-or-death internal competition in the global market, new brands, technologies, and products are far from enough to defeat competitors. Geely must build a strong and unified Great Geely, which is where Li Shufu's brilliance lies.

The dual brands of LYNK&CO and Zeekr originally shared the same roots in technology and platform but belonged to different companies, and LYNK&CO's operations also involved Volvo. It is difficult to imagine how much valuable resources and time this has wasted for Geely.

Based on the Zeekr Technology Group, Li Shufu aims to replicate the successful model of FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC Volkswagen, creating another Geely to better cope with future more intense market competition and unknown risks.

In the past, Volkswagen had the double insurance of FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC Volkswagen, Toyota had the double insurance of FAW Toyota and GAC Toyota, and BYD's Dynasty and Ocean dual-car strategy was also a great success, each supporting half of BYD's business.

Now, Li Shufu has formed the Geely army with traditional fuel vehicles and Yinhe new energy, as well as the Zeekr army with plug-in hybrid LYNK&CO and pure electric Zeekr, taking an important step forward to cope with the next storm in the Chinese automotive market.

The next competition will be brutal and life-or-death, and Geely must also face its toughest year, but Li Shufu wants it to move faster and win more.