Manufacturing News

Geely sees sales growth evaporating as market struggles

China’s most globally high-profile and successful carmaker, Geely, is forecasting flat sales this year, a sharp slowdown from 2018 as the country's giant auto market struggles with slowing economic growth and more cautious consumers.

Geely Automobile Holdings, the main unit of the Geely empire which owns Volvo Cars and Proton, posted sales growth of 20 percent in 2018.

That was despite a slide in sales at a host of other carmakers and forecasts that last year was the first in decades to see a decline in China’s overall new-vehicle market.

The gloomy forecast for 2019 highlights how the year is likely to be tough for all carmakers, including General Motors and Great Wall Motor.

Geely said in a filing that despite growth last year, it missed a sales target of 1.58 million cars and light trucks by around 5 percent.

Its sales started to slow in the last quarter of 2018, with a 44 percent drop in December alone, according to monthly data filings.

Some other domestic and international companies have flagged a sharp drop in demand in China at the end of last year, including Apple Inc., which cut its global sales forecast due to Chinese weakness.

Geely’s chairman Li Shufu said in a new year’s address that the year ahead was pivotal.

“We must lay the foundation for our survival, otherwise we may soon face a period of demise," he said in the address posted on Geely's social media last year.

China's auto market likely contracted last year for the first time since at least 1990, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said last month, citing economic shifts, weakness in smaller cities and “international reasons” - which could refer to the Sino-U.S trade war.

The industry trade group expects around 28 million vehicle sales in 2019, roughly level with 2018.

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