Chinese automaker, Geely Auto Group, has formed a new business entity, Geely Technology Europe (Geely Tech Europe), as a strategy to accelerate its international growth. The group has integrated its main engineering centres in Gothenburg, Sweden (previously Zeekr Technology Europe AB), and Frankfurt, Germany (previously LTIC GmbH), to establish a unified European R&D and vehicle development hub that will sit at the heart of its global operations.
According to the company, Geely Tech Europe will liaise with the Geely Research Institute (GRI) in China to engineer new vehicle platforms for worldwide markets. The pool of automotive engineering experts will provide coordinated engineering support across the Zeekr, Lynk & Co, and Geely vehicle brands, with the aim of reducing the delay between China and overseas product launches to less than six months.
Geely Auto Group has aggressive overseas sales targets, which Geely Tech Europe plans to help meet by doubling its managed European vehicle projects by 2027.
According to the company, there are three core pillars to the work at Geely Technology Europe:
- The co-development of global vehicle architectures. This will drive the creation of next-generation mechanical and E/E architectures, designed in collaboration with teams in China.
- Product definition & market optimisation. The teams will strive to translate European and international customer needs, as well as strict regulatory requirements, into highly competitive global vehicle programmes.
- AI-powered digital experiences. The teams will also work to create software-defined vehicles with Agentic AI, advanced intelligent driving systems (ADAS), smart cockpits, and robust European data privacy and cybersecurity standards.
Geely’s European teams, in collaboration with Geely’s global R&D network, have already played a part in creating vehicle platforms over nearly two decades, including the Compact Modular Architecture (CMA), which underpins more than four million vehicles globally, and the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) family, such as the co-developed SEA-S platform featuring a 900-volt high-voltage system.
Giovanni Lanfranchi, CEO of Geely Technology Europe, said of the restructuring: “Europe is more than a key market; it is a global benchmark for automotive excellence and demanding customer expectations. To succeed, it is essential to anticipate and incorporate the needs of all regions from the start of development. Establishing Geely Technology Europe creates a genuinely borderless R&D setup — a strategic edge that allows us to not only meet global standards, but to help set them.”
