Geely Automobile was the first independent vehicle manufacturer in the People’s Republic of China. Its parent company is the Geely Holding Group. Geely started out in 1986 manufacturing refrigerators and then moved on to manufacturing decoration materials in 1989. Following this Geely moved onto producing motorcycle parts in 1992 and then motorcycles in 1994. By 1996 the company had produced over 200,000 motorcycles and scooters. Geely’s automobile productions began in 1999 and in 2003 it began to export cars.

Geely was the first Chinese automobile manufacturer to be present at the Frankfurt Motor Show, where it displayed its range of vehicles in 2005. This was Geely’s first incursion into a foreign developed market. It is expected that Geely will begin selling cars in Europe during 2007. Geely was also the first Chinese car company to display its vehicles at the Detroit Auto Show in the USA. Geely hoped to begin selling its products in the USA in 2008, in line with the start of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, but its arrival in the US has been delayed until 2009. This is due to several vehicles failing to pass US crash and emissions tests. However, Geely has expanded its operations into some foreign markets selling both cars and motorcycles in Venezuela and Pakistan.