Ukraine is among the manufacturer's largest overseas markets. Geely exported 1,500 vehicles to Ukraine last month. Its total Ukraine-bound automobile exports in 2011 and the first half of 2012 exceeded 7,500 and 5,000 units, respectively. Geely controls 7.46 percent of the country's market.
Foreign sales are taking up an increasingly important position in Geely's business agenda. According to its most recent statistics, exports accounted for over 35 percent of Geely's total July sales. Geely Holding Group Vice President and Geely International General Manager Zhang Lin announced that there is a good chance that the manufacturer's total exports this year will exceed 80,000 units, double the amount exported in 2011. The figure is 20,000 units more than the original export target Geely announced in April.
Due to increasing competition, the introduction of new policies limiting automobile sales and a relatively poor economy, it is becoming increasingly tough for own brand manufacturers to rely solely off sales in the domestic Chinese market.
"Geely has already entered a phase of rapid growth in overseas markets," Mr. Zhang said. "This is the result of years of planning," he explains. He also adds that Geely is striving to increase localization efforts abroad. In addition to its existing knockdown factories in Russia and Egypt, the manufacturer is currently building new factories in Ukraine and Belarus.
