Geely established itself as the forerunner and beat other Chinese buyers
As early as 2002 Li Shufu, founder of the Chinese automotive manufacturer Geely Group, proposed in an internal meeting the daring idea of buying Volvo, Northern Europe’s largest car maker. The financial crisis of 2008 gave him his opportunity. For Li, the deal was equivalent to “a world famous movie star marrying a peasant in China”. He saw Volvo as the vehicle that would provide the innovation, brand and technology needed to propel China’s auto industry to the global stage.
[Reprinted with permission from The China Europe International Business School.]