Geely is back with vengeance: New models, new dealers, and more

Move on, that’s what Geely Motor Philippines (GMP) wants us to do. The Chinese automaker, which regained a good amount of popularity after it re-entered the Philippine market in 2019, wants to win back its customers. 

After just five years, everything went downhill. Everyone knows what happened. Everyone knows that its previous distributor failed to uphold its customer’s trust. A classic case of being unable to cope with high amounts of growth. Hence, the brand’s parent company had to step in and take over the local operations in 2024.

Is it too late? They don’t think so.

The Chinese automaker recently invited us on another trip to China to see what they have planned for their future in the Philippines, and it looks promising for sure.

Our first day was essentially day zero, flying from Manila to Shanghai for a good two hours and 47 minutes in a tightly packed Philippine Airlines Airbus A330, two hours to finish the arrival process, and an additional three hours in a bus to the city of Ningbo, across Hangzhou Bay, and part of Geely’s home of Zhejiang Province. Also here is the location of one of their manufacturing facilities.

On our first full day, the first thing on our agenda was a visit to the Zhejiang Geely Automobile Co., Ltd. Factory, just a short 10-minute bus ride from our hotel. What better way to showcase a brand than seeing their cars being built, right?

Photography is normally prohibited in these factories, but thankfully we got special permission to share with you all what happens behind the walls, things we usually don’t see.

This facility is mostly automated, with hundreds of robots doing the work, from stamping to paint, and final assembly. Admittedly, most of it was nothing to write home about, but seeing that manual installation (for stuff robots can’t do yet) and manual checks were done by actual people for quality control, it definitely builds trust in what would be everyday vehicles for future car buyers.

After seeing how the cars are assembled, we then proceeded to their R&D center, a short bus ride away. Here they showed us some testing facilities that emulate extremely hot and cold weather, among others, and where we also sighted a handful of camouflaged cars which are still under development. Unfortunately, photography here was strictly prohibited.

Post-tour, we were given a brief refresh of what their current Philippine lineup, composed of the GX3 Pro A-segment crossover, Coolray subcompact crossover, Emgrand subcompact sedan, Okavango midsize crossover, and fully-electric EX5 compact crossover, all have to offer, along with their plans for our market. 

This is where things get exciting as one obvious way to attract customers is with new products. Confirmed to arrive in 2026 is the Geely EX5 EM-i, a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version of the currently offered EX5 full EV, and the Geely EX2 fully electric hatchback, poised to compete with the popular BYD Seagull and Dolphin electric hatchbacks.

READ: These new and future Geely models are coming to PH

But that’s not all. We were also given a glimpse of a couple of codenamed models slated for a Philippine launch, but still without final names. These include another PHEV compact SUV, an ICE-powered budget subcompact sedan aimed at taking sales from the Mitsubishi Mirage G4, and a PHEV compact sedan that will compete with the BYD Seal 5 DM-i.

You can read more about these future models here.

Now the biggest question is with regards to aftersales. All these future products mean nothing if they’re unable to regain the trust of potential customers after last year’s aftersales issues. People would simply stray away from the brand, no matter how good the products are.

Well, we do not know how exactly they plan to fix it. We asked, and they said they’ll be better. How? We don’t know but we’ll hold them to their words. Hopefully they stay true to their promise of improving aftersales service, which in turn will help boost sales with regained customer trust.

A good start is their supply chain upgrade. Announced a few months ago, GMP promises to minimize delays for spare parts with its six-month parts stockpile, stored in a warehouse in Cabuyao, Laguna. This should also help speed up the warranty claim processing, reduce service delays, and ensure that parts availability is good across its entire dealership network.

READ: Geely PH wants to make parts issues a thing of the past with a six-month parts stockpile

The company also plans to expand its reach to more customers again with new dealership locations. Over the past year, we’ve witnessed the closure of many Geely dealerships, and they want to grow once again.

This starts with the first new dealership to open under the management of GMP, Geely Sta. Rosa in Sta. Rosa City, Laguna. The newly opened facility is operated by D&J Auto Limited Philippines Corporation (D&J Group), a Chinese automotive dealership group that already operates Geely dealerships, including two that we visited in the city of Jiaxing, also in Zhejiang Province.

The second Geely dealership to operate under the D&J Group will be Geely Fairview, through a partnership with its current dealer principal. We don’t know how a foreign dealer group will be able to manage customer expectations in the Philippine market, but we do hope it’s for the best.

And hopefully all these really are for the best. What was once topping sales charts in the country is hoping to regain its momentum through new models, new aftersales programs and strategies, and more. While we do think some of their plans still seem half-assed incomplete, particularly the part where they say they’ll do better, it’s a step-by-step process.

One way or another, Geely wants to win back the Philippine market. They’re trying, but only time will tell if they will succeed, especially with how competitive the market is today. 

Good luck to them? Well, their name stands for auspiciousness and good luck after all.